AFT, Local 212

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A Message From Local 212 President Michael Rosen:

April 15, 2005

AAS General Ed

There’s still no word on whether the WTCS state office will add the science and math courses to the gen. ed. core that we requested as part of the A.A.S reconfiguration. I appreciate the efforts you have made in forwarding the courses and fighting for your programs. I have met with Provost Walsh to help him understand our concerns. We should get an answer on the proposed courses before the summer break. This is not rocket science, after all. I certainly hope that the powers that be don’t think our concerns will evaporate over the summer. The integrity of our programs and the needs of our students are too important to be forgotten just because the semester has ended.

Administration is Non-Compliant

The administration and its unions have had a joint healthcare committee for over five years. Recognizing that healthcare costs have been rising at three times the rate of inflation and that our elected national leadership is unwilling to do anything about this problem, the committee decided MATC needed a wellness and disease management program to help control costs at our local level. Unfortunately, despite our agreement we have made no progress in implementing either a wellness or disease management program.

Wispark

Spring is in the air and that means construction in Milwaukee. Several developments with the potential to address our continuing parking problems have emerged including PabstCity where we used to park.

Wispark, the development arm of We Energies, plans a mixed use development for the entire twenty-one acres. It will be anchored by entertainment, a nightclub, multi-plex theatre, and Gameworks and include restaurants, specialty shops, housing and offices. Parking is also planned.

The entire development is projected to cost $317 million dollars and Wispark is seeking over $100 million in public subsidy. Part of this would be a $38 million Tax Incremental Financing district that would pay for infrastructure development. Essentially any new property tax dollars generated by the project would go to the project rather than the city, county or MATC. MATC is losing $2.5 million to TIDs this year alone. Since MATC has a representative on the committee that will approve this project, we have some leverage. At the same time, the project has the potential to help us address student and employee parking needs.

Dr.Cole has agreed to reconstitute the college’s parking committee to attempt to solve our parking problems. We hope to get this committee reorganized quickly so that we can meet with the PabstCity and Park East Freeway developers to explore solutions to our problems.

The Deserving Wealthy

A recent New York Times article, “My Big Fat C.E.O, Paycheck,” puts WeEnergies request for a $38 million TID in context. The company’s CEO, Gale Klappa’s, total compensation last year was a measly $4,050,000. This was half of the $9,9 million average for CEO’s, up 12% from 2003. But then again We Energies’ net income and its total stockholder return were below average. Perhaps We Energies, unlike many corporations which pay CEO’s without any regard to performance, determined CEO compensation based on the company’s below average numbers. Then again $4 million still buys a lot of beer and bratwurst. As the Times pointed out, “At a time when millions of American workers have seen their pension plans pared back or shut down, and millions more are being asked to bear the risk of managing their own retirement savings, departing chief executive officers are making out better than ever.”

We Energies plans to raise prices 9% this year in three price increases and another increase is planned for 2006. This is more than three times the rate of inflation and much greater than the property tax increases home owners have experienced. Since the late 1990s, electricity prices in southeast Wisconsin have increased at a double-digit percentage rate. But then again, if you want to pay your C.E.O. $4 million a year sacrifices need to be made! In America today entitlements are reserved for the deserving wealthy while those without large stock portfolios, inherited wealth and incomes are expected to sacrifice.

Don’t forget to get your ticket for the Social Solidarity Party, May 12th.

In Union,
MICHAEL ROSEN
PRESIDENT

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