Protest Bill's Assault on Women

Wisconsin Budget Bill Targets Women

We, the undersigned, protest the disproportionate effects that Special Session Senate Bill 11 (JR1SB-11), Governor Walker's so-called "Budget Repair" Bill, would have on women.  As Dr. Jeffrey H. Keefe of Rutgers University writes in an Economic Policy Institute report released on Feb. 10, 2011, "Compared with Wisconsin private sector employees, Wisconsin state and local government employees on average are... more likely to be female (56% versus 46%)."

In addition to targeting this group of employees as a whole, JR1SB-11 would strip most collective bargaining rights from occupations that are predominantly filled by women.  At the same time, it preserves such rights for occupations mostly filled by men.

This bill eliminates bargaining rights for nurses, teachers, home care providers and child care workers.  By far, the majority of these workers are women.  For instance, according to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction statistics from 2010, approximately 44,000 public school teachers are female, while only 16,000 are male.

At the same time, the bill exempts local police, firefighters and state troopers from its union-busting provisions.  According to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice, 73% of law enforcement workers were male and only 27% were female in 2006.  For firefighters, the statistics are even starker.  In 2008, Cornell's Institute for Women and Work found that women make up fewer than four percent of firefighters in the United States .  Strikingly, the study's authors write, "Not one paid woman firefighter has ever worked in more than half the nation's departments."  The study commends Racine , WI as one of the locations nationwide with the highest percentage of female firefighters at almost 18%.

As history suggests, unions not only improve wages and working conditions for working people everywhere, but also increase workplace productivity and enhance services to the community.  Governor Walker may never have intended to launch an attack on Wisconsin's women.  However, by targeting their unions, that would indeed be the unfortunate effect of his bill.

1.      Terry O'Neill, President of the National Organization for Women (NOW)

2.      Bonnie Grabenhofer, NOW Executive Vice President, Past President of Illinois NOW

3.      Jacqueline Steingold, National NOW Board Member, Great Lakes NOW Regional Director

4.      Gay F. Bruhn, National NOW Board Member, Past President of Illinois NOW

5.      Constance Fuller Threinen, one of the Founders and former Chair of the Wisconsin Women%u2019s Network (1987-90 and 1997-99), and Charter Member of National NOW.

6.      Emily Reynolds, President of Wisconsin NOW

7.      Elizabeth Galewski, President of Madison NOW

8.      Karen Godshall, Past President of Wisconsin NOW

9.      Jean Beschta, Coordinator of Fox Cities NOW

10.  Scott Enk, President of West Suburban Milwaukee NOW

11.  Renee Beeker, President of Michigan NOW

12.  Jennifer Martin, Action Vice President of Michigan NOW

13.  Mary Pollock, Legislative Vice President of Michigan NOW

14.  Marion Wagner, Past President of Indiana NOW, former Great Lakes NOW Regional Director

15.  Dennis Goodenough, Member of Madison NOW

16.  Karen Koehlor, Member of Fox Cities NOW

17.   Dawn Marie Sass, former Wisconsin State Treasurer and 32 year AFSCME member

18.  Prof. Stephan Laurent, Butler University

19.  Dr. Julie Cross, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Treasurer of the International Alliance for Women in Music

20.  Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, Interim Chair, Wisconsin Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Madison, WI

21.  Cathy Thompson, Executive Director, Wisconsin Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Janesville, WI

22.  Minjon Tholen, Project Coordinator at the Wisconsin Women%u2019s Network

23.  Jan Levine Thal, Artistic Director of the Kathie Rasmussen Women%u2019s Theatre

24.  Evgenia Fotiou, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI

25.  Dr. Jennifer Young, Licensed Psychologist

26.  Dana Schreiber, retired medical ethics instructor, Madison, WI

27.  Karin Wolf, Arts Administrator, Madison

28.  Jean Listinsky, Single public school teacher, Madison, WI

29.  Kirsten Crowhurst, Student, Madison, WI

30.  Lisa %u201CLe%u201D M. Osburn, Madison, WI 53713

31.  Jenni Mjenzi, Madison, WI 53704

32.  Laura Buchs, Madison, WI

33.  Diana Parker, Janesville, WI

34.  Nancy Van Maren, Fremont, WI

35.  Terri Gregory

36.  Cathleen Blair

37.  Patricia Hrubesky

38.  Larry Moens, Feminist Supporter

39.  Howard Katz, Celebrant

40.  Sue Gatterman

41.  Bonita Schey, Madison, WI

42.  Khalil Dokhanchi, University of Wisconsin-Superior

43.  Diane Walder, Madison, WI 53704

44.  Lisa M. Becher, Madison, WI

45.  Janis N. Senungetuk, Madison, WI 53716

46.  Laura Frye-Levine, Madison, WI 53703

47.  Maria C. Powell, PhD, Community-Based Participatory Researcher for the Midwest Environmental Justice Organization (MEJO)

48.  Sara Karon, Madison, WI

49.  Tara Dirth, Madison, WI

50.  M. Leanne Gray, Madison, WI