Thursday, June 4, 2015

Brutal! WMC and Big Business now trying to remove state Medical Leave benefits for employees, saying they're too confusing.

The major business lobbyist, Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce, wants to take your state Family and Medical Leave Act benefits away. What, life isn't difficult enough already?

The business takeover of our state has been breathtaking. WMC's recent request is just another extreme example of the winner take all conservative plundering of our state. Another solution to a non-existent problem. A cruel power play against a battered worker force Scott Walker left twisting in the wind by Act 10. It wasn't just an attack on unions, it was a threat to all fair labor practices:
WISC: A coalition of business and government groups is pushing for changes to the state's family and medical leave law. The measure would nearly wipe out Wisconsin's law in favor of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, with employers saying differences between the two create confusion. The two versions of FMLA have co-existed since 1993.


Here's what WMC wants to remove from Wisconsin law (pictured):
Wisconsin's added benefits beyond the federal coverage.
1. Leave to more part-time workers. 2. Taking care of an in-law or domestic partner. 3. The ability to apply or not apply sick or vacation time to leave. 4. The ability to take intermittent leave for a birth or adoption.
Who could have imagined anyone opposed to the common sense added benefits to the Family and Medical Leave Act?
The motion ... pushed at the Capitol by groups like Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. Joint Finance Committee Co-Chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, tells News 3 that he is personally supportive of the measure, but thinks it may be "too controversial" to get the votes on the committee this session.
Rules helping workers and families dealing with dramatically difficult health situations...outrageous? Not worth the effort? Confusing?
"Mainly because it's a confusing administrative nightmare" said Curt Witynski, assistant director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. 
Or they're lying:
But Beth Miller of the South-Central Federation of Labor and 9 to 5 Wisconsin said "Employers have managed to cope with this for over 20 years. The laws have co-existed for two decades and I haven't heard complaints from anyone except Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce."

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