LOCAL 1245 JOINS 3,000 UNION MEMBERS AT CAPITAL TO SUPPORT WISCONSIN PUBLIC WORKERS

Fourteen members of IBEW Local 1245 made it to Sacramento on short notice on Feb. 22 to join approximately 3,000 people rallying in support of Wisconsin’s public workers.

Wisconsin workers, who have organized as many as 70,000 demonstrators in recent days to occupy the state capital in Madison, are fighting to preserve their rights and their livelihood. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is pushing legislation to strip public workers of their collective bargaining rights.

Local 1245 members making it to Sacramento for the Feb. 22 support rally were Gracie Nunez, Lloyd Cargo, Fred Ross, Ralph Armstrong, Liz McInnis, Sheila Lawton, Joe Osterlund, Ken Ball, JV Macor, Junior Ornelas, Darryl Norris and Eileen Purcell.

In addition to members of IBEW Local 1245, which represents hundreds of public workers, the rally in Sacramento drew teachers, custodians, engineers and court reporters.

About 35 tea party activists gathered across the street holding their own signs, declaring “No more free lunch!”

“I think the unions are right to be running scared,” he said. “Middle America is coming after them,” said Richard Woods, a retired contractor wearing a red visor with “Tea Party Patriots” stitched on the the front. He was quoted in the Sacramento Bee.

Local 1245 Assistant Business Manager Ray Thomas, who has been deeply involved in defending Local 1245’s public sector members at the City of Redding and elsewhere, said the Tea Party’s recent actions are very revealing. “The events in Wisconsin are doing a good job of pulling back the curtain and exposing the people who want to destroy everything that unions have accomplished for public workers,” he said.

Efforts are under way to put an initiative on the ballot in California next year that would strip public employees of their bargaining rights.

Wisconsin unions have said they’ll accept the higher out-of-pocket payouts that together equal an 8 percent cut to take-home pay, but they have drawn a firm line when it comes to defending their right to collective bargaining.

The Sacramento vigil was one of more than two dozen demonstrations and news conferences planned by unions and their allies in at least 27 states, according to the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, a Santa Barbara-based organization filed with the state last month to collect campaign contributions toward a 2012 ballot measure aimed at ending California public employee unions.

And in Sacramento, Assemblyman Allan Mansoor, R-Costa Mesa, has introduced legislation, Assembly Bill 961, to end collective bargaining for public pension benefits. When asked by the Sacramento Bee late Tuesday about what’s happening in Wisconsin, Mansoor said, “I think it’s great. Governor Walker is taking a stand for citizens.”

When asked why he stopped with public pensions instead of a broader Wisconsin ban on union bargaining, Mansoor said, “I think the public understands (the pension) issue. And I just want to take this one step at a time.”