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Wednesday, March 09, 2011
NM Unions to Rally In Opposition of Susana Martinez's Decision to Fire State Labor Board
Note: Rallying opposition to the right-wing plot to destroy union rights is now more critical than ever. Today, Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin voted, with no Democrats present, to destroy government worker collective bargaining rights in an arrogant -- and possibly illegal -- set of actions in that state. You can read about the Wisconsin situation here and here.
Union President Christine Trujillo said today that Governor Susana Martinez has exceeded her legal authority by firing members of the New Mexico Public Employees Labor Relations Board. On March 8, 2011, over 100 local unions across the State of New Mexico sent a letter to Governor Martinez demanding that she immediately reinstate board members.
On February 5, 2011, Governor Martinez terminated the Public Employee Labor Relations Executive Director, Pam Gentry, and has halted efforts to replace her.
"In the last four weeks, Governor Martinez has eliminated the structure required by State law which existed to enforce New Mexico’s public sector bargaining rights. She has over-stepped her legal authority by firing the Board and its Executive Director,” said Trujillo, President of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
The letter to the Governor also demanded that Governor Martinez immediately reinstate board members so that it may hire an Executive Director and thus restore the legislatively mandated forum for the resolution of disputes between public sector unions and their employers.
The Unions will be staging a rally in defense of their rights on this issue and others on Saturday, March 12, 2011, at 12 Noon on the west side New Mexico State Capitol. Click for flyer.
March 9, 2011 at 06:53 PM in Education, Government, Labor, Susana Martinez | Permalink
Comments
Susana is sooooo Retro.
Like 1800's-Retro.
Posted by: Terry Schleder | Mar 9, 2011 7:03:37 PM
The only thing that our Democratic President has had to say is that it SEEMS like worker's rights and unions rights are being taken away.
It is time for Obama to take sides.
Posted by: qofdisks | Mar 10, 2011 10:41:28 AM
When the DNC started doing some stuff to support the Wisconsin workers, operatives from the White House criticized them for stepping on the President's "Win the Future" pre-campaign messaging. I'm not kidding.
"Similarly, the White House mostly has sought to stay out of the fray in Madison, Wis., and other state capitals where Republican governors are battling public employee unions and Democratic lawmakers over collective bargaining rights. When West Wing officials discovered that the Democratic National Committee had mobilized Mr. Obama’s national network to support the protests, they angrily reined in the staff at the party headquarters.
"Administration officials said they saw the events beyond Washington as distractions from the optimistic “win the future” message that Mr. Obama introduced in his State of the Union address, in which he exhorted the country to increase spending for some programs even as it cuts others so that America can “out-innovate and out-educate” its global rivals."
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/us/politics/04staff.html?_r=4
Posted by: barb | Mar 10, 2011 1:33:11 PM
Anything innovated here by a few engineers is shipped to China for production.
The corporatist environment does not nurture children well enough for them to be well educated.
I'm not gonna vote for Obama.
Posted by: qofdisks | Mar 10, 2011 10:13:08 PM
