Shot In The Dark: Today’s News, Two Weeks Ago

I should change the motto of this blog; “Our Rumors Are Better Than Most Organizations’ News”.

The Wall Street Journal announced that Wisconsin AFSCME membership has dropped.

Well, no.  It plummeted.

Well, no.  It went into a flame-belching, smoking death spiral.

Yeah.  That’s what I”m looking for.

In the Wall Street Journal, (via Power Line):

Wisconsin membership in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees—the state’s second-largest public-sector union after the National Education Association, which represents teachers—fell to 28,745 in February from 62,818 in March 2011, according to a person who has viewed Afscme’s figures. A spokesman for Afscme declined to comment.

Much of that decline came from Afscme Council 24, which represents Wisconsin state workers, whose membership plunged by two-thirds to 7,100 from 22,300 last year.

This was, of course, reported in this space two weeks ago today:

Scuttlebutt from a trusted source who works inside AFSCME Minnesota Council 5 states that there are interesting developments in the Wisconsin AFSCME. Ever since passage and signing of the “right-to-work” laws in our neighboring state to the east, about 80% of those AFSCME members have “opted-out” of paying union dues.

My source’s anecdote got the percentage wrong, but the magnitude of the catastrophic ennui facing Wisconsin’s unions was dead-nut on.

Certain members of the leftyblog clucking class tried to call BS on the anecdote, claiming “FACT CHECK”.

Their spurious claim of “BS” is returned with two weeks’ interest, um, piled on top.

Endzone happy dance aside?  I don’t get everything right.  Not every tip I get pans out.  But there is more actual bankable fact in this blog in a week than in every leftyblog in Minnesota all year.

 

11 thoughts on “Shot In The Dark: Today’s News, Two Weeks Ago

  1. Dog Gone wrote (related to the original post on May 17, 2012):
    “You just love to post these first hand, second hand, now third hand stories from anonymous trusted sources, often about unions.
    The only problem is that yours stories never turn out to be true.
    This is bunkum. Check it out, and stop relying on these planted stories you so love to promote.
    But after noticing this story pop up on the blog roll, I can tell you my quickie check says this is more bunkum that your Mitch-keteers are willing to swallow not because it is true, but because it is what they want to believe.”
    To paraphrase Swifty…BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That is all.

  2. Well, you’ve managed to do it, boys – marginalize the unions. Now what are we left with? The free market? Plus, you’ve liberalized gun laws. People who are making six cents an hour to clean up your parking lots will soon be shot for working too slow.

    Are you happy now? Blood will be running like an open hydrant through the streets of our once-civilized burg. Next thing, you conservatives will be turning off the welfare spigot. Then where are we?

  3. Actually, a drop of only 54% is very good retention historically.

    But note that we’re not done yet. According to the article folks are dropping memberships as their contracts run out, and since not all of the contracts have run out yet and we’ll be seeing that membership decline further as time goes on and the bill isn’t repealed.

  4. “Actually, a drop of only 54% is very good retention historically.”

    If you say so Nerd, but I’d like to see your source for that. For most businesses, the loss of 54% of their customers is close the doors time. I can understand the loss of some members just due to the fact that they don’t believe the union provides them value for their dues. IE: I was a member of a service union when I worked for a grocery chain while in college. I worked 16-20 hours a week, yet paid full boat retail (equal to my full time colleagues) in monthly dues. I received none of the benefits the full timers did (health ins, etc). If I had a choice, I would have dropped my card too.
    Are there a lot of part timers or others who don’t get value (or enough in their opinion) for their dues that would drop out in that significant a number?

  5. I just went over to Penigma. Wow — they’ve gone completely off the rails. Everyone is a liar! Everyone!

  6. Yes, D, that shark has been jumped.

    Liberal Fascism on display over at PenisBlog:
    “I applaud Mayor Bloomberg … response to those health problems, those problems are more than just an individual choice issue.”

    What Seeuentee is saying is that freedom and liberty is a small price to pay for your own good.

    “”put another nail in the coffin of the idea of Isreal” – Penigma

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