This week the ipl2 blog provides resources related to labor unions and the labor protests that have taken place in Wisconsin in recent weeks.
On February 11, 2011, newly seated Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker proposed a budget bill that would, among other things, alter the health care and pension provisions covering public-sector employees and strip them of their collective bargaining rights. Labor unions in Wisconsin and beyond immediately began protesting the proposed changes, especially those related to collective bargaining. Protesters soon descended on the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, vowing to prevent passage of the Governor’s proposal. Concerns over similar proposals in states such as Ohio and Indiana have also arisen in recent weeks. Resources for this week’s blog have been chosen to help you understand the context behind this complex controversy
New resources that will be added to the ipl2 are noted NEW! All other resources are already listed in the ipl2 collections.
NEW! CNN: Complete Coverage on the Topic: Wisconsin
http://topics.cnn.com/topics/wisconsin
Find the latest news on the controversy in Wisconsin at this CNN page dedicated to covering the story from all angles. The page has links to background stories as well as the latest news.
NEW! Office of the Governor Scott Walker: Wisconsin is Open for Business
http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/
Read Governor Walker’s official position regarding his budget proposal and the protests it has generated at this official website for the governor of Wisconsin.
NEW! WEAC: Wisconsin Education Association Council
http://www.weac.org/Home.aspx
You can find a good summary of the positions of the protesters, as well as useful links to other related sites, at this website, created by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, a union representing approximately 98,000 public school teachers in the state and one of the groups that has come out most strongly against Governor Walker’s proposals.
Cornell University Library Guides: Labor Unions and the Internet (find it on ipl2: Resources by Subject – Labor)
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/laborunionsandtheinternet
This guide, hosted by Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, contains an educational guide to labor unions and their history, and provides numerous links to web resources covering labor issues, as well as to the websites of the world’s major labor unions.
NEW! National Labor Relations Board
http://www.nlrb.gov/
Established during the New Deal, the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) is an independent agency of the United States tasked with supervising the internal governance of labor unions and with investigating allegations of unfair labor practices. The NLRB’s website contains useful information for understanding workers rights and how labor unions function in the United States.
NEW! Encyclopedia.com: Collective Bargaining
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/collective_bargaining.aspx
Labor relations between unions and employers have traditionally functioned through the process known as collective bargaining. In Wisconsin, it is the provisions of Governor Walker’s proposed legislation limiting collective bargaining rights that have been most strongly criticized. Learn about collective bargaining–what it is and how it works–at this webpage, which provides a detailed summary of the subject.
Thank you for checking in. The teams at the ipl2 hope you find this information useful for understanding the situation in Wisconsin and other states.
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