With Medicare in Crosshairs, Wis. IBEW Activists Mobilize for Pro-Worker Candidates
November 5, 2012
Standing strong in the wake of recent anti-workerlegislation that first took root in their home state, Wisconsin IBEW activists are mobilizing against the erosion of Medicare and workers’ rights that could come to pass if right-wing candidates are elected Nov. 6.
“Tammy Baldwin has demonstrated that she completely supports good construction jobs,” said Madison Local 159 member Dave Boetcher, who coordinates government affairs for all inside locals affiliated with the Wisconsin State Conference:
At the same time, her “no” vote against vice-presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget – which would have partially privatized Medicare – contrasts sharply with that of Baldwin’s challenger, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson. After more than a dozen years in the state’s highest office, Thompson took a job as then-President Bush’s secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in 2001, where he oversaw Medicare for the next four years. Now, on the campaign trail, Thompson has endorsed Ryan’s plan to overhaul the system that helps provide care for 48 million seniors and young people with disabilities. At a May Tea Party rally in southeastern Wisconsin, Thompson told the crowd, “Who better than me … to come up with programs to do away with Medicaid and Medicare?” : “That position worries us a lot,” said Boetcher:
In addition to supporting Medicare, Baldwin has endorsed the Employee Free Choice Act, voted to restrict employer interference in collective bargaining and voted to increase the minimum wage while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Boetcher said that while Thompson used to support many initiatives for building trades members during his terms as governor, “he’s changed into someone else”:
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