Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

(The International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued the following on February 22, 2011.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has gone too far with his vindictive attack on working families. 

Hoffa was responding to Walker's speech this evening to the people of Wisconsin. Walker's budget proposal would eliminate important protections for working families in the state by severely weakening collective bargaining rights.

"Destroying workers' collective bargaining rights won't balance the budget and it won't create a single job," Hoffa said.

"Walker isn't fooling anyone. He's trying to give more power to the corporate CEOs who put him in office so they can cut workers' wages and send jobs overseas.

"If Scott Walker wanted to create jobs, he wouldn't have pulled the plug on high-speed rail in Wisconsin. If Scott Walker wanted to create jobs, he wouldn't have signed a contract that sends Wisconsin Department of Health System jobs to India. If Scott Walker wanted to create jobs, he would have asked his friends at Koch Industries to stop laying off workers in Green Bay.

"Even his fellow Republican governors think he's gone too far," Hoffa said. "Gov. Mitch Daniels in Indiana said there's a better time and place to discuss collective bargaining rights. Gov. Rick Scott in Florida said collective bargaining is fine. Gov. Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania said he expects to negotiate with public-sector unions in good faith.

"Walker should be bringing people together to create good jobs in Wisconsin, not tearing the state apart in a transparent effort to punish his political enemies."

Hoffa pointed to a study by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future that showed Walker's budget proposal would cost the state $1.1 billion in economic activity and 9,000 private sector jobs.

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.4 million members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit http://www.teamster.org orhttp://www.stopthewaronworkers.com for more information.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011