Hundreds of state workers call in sick
10:27 PM 2/06/03
Phil Brinkman State government reporter

Temperatures rose sharply over the state's unsettled labor contracts Thursday as hundreds of workers stayed home, the state threatened union leaders with sanctions and two unions took the Legislature to court.

The job actions appear to have hit the Department of Corrections hardest, with about 400 prison guards, or about 35 percent of all first-shift prison security staff calling in sick, Corrections spokesman Bill Clausius said.

About 40 percent of teachers at the Lincoln Hills School for juvenile delinquents in Irma and 58 percent at the Ethan Allen School in Wales also stayed home.

State officials were calling the actions a strike, prohibited for state employees under state law and existing contracts.

Employment Relations Secretary Karen Timberlake told union leaders to order their members back to work, claiming Thursday's work stoppage cost the state $72,194 in overtime.

"If the strike continues and public safety requires that the governor activate the National Guard to staff the prisons, the cost to the taxpayers will be a minimum of $175,000 per day," Timberlake wrote in a letter to Wisconsin State Employee Union executive director Marty Beil, whose union represents the prison guards, among others.

Timberlake also wrote to Michael Moore, director of the Wisconsin Education Association Council's local that represents the teachers who stayed home Thursday.

She cautioned both union leaders that they have a responsibility to try to get workers back on the job or be found in violation of their contracts.

Beil could not be reached for comment Thursday but had said earlier any planned job actions by employees were not sanctioned by the union.

Late Thursday, WSEU and the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers, which represents public defenders, professional employees and others, filed separate complaints against the state in Dane County Circuit Court.

They are asking a judge to order a key legislative committee to hold a hearing on proposed new contracts with 15 employee bargaining units and approve them so the full Legislature can vote on them.

The Republican leaders of the Joint Committee on Employment Relations have refused to take up the contract, negotiated last year between the unions and the administration of former Republican Gov. Scott McCallum, arguing the state can't afford them.

Some have called for McCallum's successor, Democrat Jim Doyle, to reopen negotiations, but Doyle has maintained he can't do that unless the Legislature rejects the current proposal. Doyle, who plans to introduce his two-year budget bill Feb. 18, has said his plan would fund the new contracts.

Asked about the workers who called in sick Thursday, Doyle said they should get back to work.

"These are very, very difficult times, and I hope everyone recognizes what their duty is," Doyle said. "If you are hired to do a job, you should do the job. People are expected to do their jobs."

At institutions affected by the sick-out, third-shift workers from the night before were asked to stay and fill in, Clausius said. Some of those institutions responded by cutting back on inmate activities, including educational programs, chapel visits and out-of-cell recreation.

In many cases, supervisors filled the role of prison guards under existing contingency plans for staffing the prisons in emergencies. None of the institutions reported any safety problems during the shift, Clausius said.

Staffing levels had returned to normal by the start of the second shift, Clausius said.

In their complaints, attorneys for WSEU and WFT contend state law requires the employment relations committee to hold a hearing on proposed labor contracts once they have been recommended by the state Department of Employment Relations.

The unions maintain the committee cannot amend the state budget after the contracts have been ratified. WSEU approved the last contract Dec. 18.

In all, 15 of 19 state bargaining units are still operating under contracts that expired in June 2001. The new contracts would include pay raises of 1 percent retroactive to July 1, 2001, 2 percent retroactive to July 1, 2002, and a final 2.5 percent raise effective in April 2003.

"Our people are extremely frustrated," said WFT President Bob Beblinger. "It's unfortunate it's got to this point. Government has not accepted its responsibility.