General Strike? And MTI comments

Pray tell what the Socialist Equality Party has to do with unions in WI? This is part of the Socialist Party usually found in colleges.

Socialist Equality Party calling for a general strike.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/madi-m11.shtml

From the Madison Teachers Inc. School Board:

It remains unclear when the bill will take effect. The Secretary of State’s Office must publish the bill within 10 business days of it being signed. The bill would take effect the day after publication.

Secretary of State Doug La Follette, a Democrat, has not determined when he would publish the bill, office administrator Ann Bloczynski said.

Once the bill takes effect, it would apply to school districts and municipalities that do not have a collective bargaining agreement in place. Those with an agreement wouldn’t be affected until their agreements expire or are amended, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

School Board member Ed Hughes wrote on his blog that the School Board met Thursday night and agreed on a two-year contract extension to send back to MTI. He said MTI’s original proposal was for four years, “in seeming disregard of the significant financial hardships the state will impose upon us.”

“I want to do whatever I can to ease the stress and uncertainty that we’re all feeling, but I’m also required to act in the best interest of the school district and all of our students,” Hughes wrote. “Like our previous settlements with other bargaining units, the proposed contract gives us the flexibility we need to adapt to the requirements imposed on us by the new state law, as well as the reduced spending limits and reduction in state aid that are parts of the proposed budget bill.”

host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/article_70bc0e62-4bfd-11e0-ace2-001cc4c03286.html