Nancy must be so proud. She raised an annoying elitist liberal just like herself.

(Huff Po) — My kinship with Wisconsin workers is based on my history as a proud pro-union Democrat. But you need not share my history to share my stake in their efforts to protect collective bargaining and the working conditions unions have gained for nonunion workers across America:

If you want a voice on the job, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

If you want your employer to pay you the benefits you earned, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

If you enjoy your weekends, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

If you value workplace safety, health care benefits, and unemployment insurance, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

If you’re an elected official counting on your pension, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

If you’re a non-union employee in a right to work state, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

If you’re unemployed or underemployed, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

If you want a decent day’s pay for an honest day’s work, you are a Wisconsin worker.

If you believe in workplace negotiation not subjugation, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

And even if you’re an anti-union media pundits with an American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) union card and protections, you’re a Wisconsin worker.

That’s the way solidarity works: an injury to anyone is an injury to all. For all our sakes, the Wisconsin protests must succeed in their goal: workplace negotiation not subjugation.

Reminder: These are the key points in Gov. Walker’s proposal:

• Public sector employees would still be allowed to collectively bargain on wages, but not on health-care or pension plans.
• Raises would be tied to the inflation rate, unless the state’s voters deemed the employees worthy of larger raises.
• Public sector employees would have to pay slightly higher rates for their health care and other benefits, but those rates would remain lower than those of the average private sector employee.
• Public sector employees would be required to pay 12.6 percent of their health-care premiums; they currently pay about 6 percent.
• Public sector employees would have to contribute 5.8 percent of their salaries to their pensions under Walker’s plans; currently some pay nothing. From 2000 to 2009, public sector employees paid $55.4 million into a pension system that cost $12.6 billion.
• Police, firefighters and other public safety workers would be exempt from the new collective bargaining restrictions.

HT: PJ Tatler