Ty Fees minces no words in offering his reaction to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to strip nearly all public employees of their collective bargaining rights.
"What is going on in Wisconsin is a disgrace," he said. "It is just a way to beat down a good worker. I don't think the public in general would sit back and take it."
Fees, who represents the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, is among the local union workers and lawmakers who have been closely watching the debate over public union rights - a battle that spread to Pennsylvania with a rally at the Capitol Saturday.
Participants there said they wanted to send a message to Gov. Tom Corbett to not consider any such
actions against unions representing Pennsylvania government workers.
One local lawmakers believes more will be known about that situation on March 8 - when Corbett presents his first budget.
"I can't see him taking such an extreme position as that," Kurt Masser (R-107) said about the governor, "but everyone, including the unions in the public and private sectors, has to know where things stand, and that in these tough economic times, everything has to be on the table. Everyone has to give a little bit."
Fees supports the protesters who have been rallying for nearly two weeks in Wisconsin, and those who have shown solidarity in numerous other states.
"This can't happen, because if it gets through in one state, it could snowball into others," he said.
Fees said Teamsters President James P. Hoffa has attended protests in Wisconsin and has sent information about rallies to members.
Different for Pa. teachers
The bill proposed in Wisconsin not only affects state and municipal employees, but teachers, too. That's a situation that will never happen in Pennsylvania, according to Alfred Varano, president of the Shamokin Area Education Association, the local teachers' union.
"The situation is different in Wisconsin because all teachers negotiate with the state as one body," Varano said. "Here in Pennsylvania, contracts are negotiated with the individual school districts, and I don't see them giving up that power any time soon."
Pennsylvania teachers, however, do support the fight of teachers and other public employees in Wisconsin, Varano said.
"This attack on workers' rights will harm the quality of our schools and the education our children receive, because educators have a say in school quality issues," he said.
Local battle continues
While Wisconsin's situation is unique, the general notion that government can no longer afford to support the benefits afforded public union workers has been a point of contention in Northumberland County.
Commissioner Vinny Clausi has taken a hard line in union negotiations, particularly in terms of asking union workers to contribute more toward their health care insurance.
"I don't have anything against unions; I've supported unions all my life," Clausi reiterated when asked for comment Saturday, "But I wanted them to come to the table and pay their fair share for health care."
Clausi said the county paid $1.2 million more for its coverage in 2010, and will pay $1.3 million more this year. That now means the cost of paying for one county employee's insurance is at $17,500, while many union county workers contribute just $240 per year - no matter the number of people covered on their plan - toward that total.
"It's not fair to the taxpayers of Northumberland County," Clausi said.
Meanwhile, non-union county workers pay $900 a year for a single person, $1,800 for a couple and $2,900 for family coverage, Clausi said.
He said even senior citizens pay an average of $125 to $150 per month for supplemental insurance.
Clausi noted that the union representing the county security guards is the only one that pays the same as non-union workers. That covers six union workers; the county's other eight unions represent 450, Clausi said.
Union officials have argued that they earn much less in county government comparison to private-sector jobs, and that having a good benefits package is one way to attract and keep good government workers.
Party lines
The political line drawn in Wisconsin seems apparent here, too. Masser, for example, doesn't agree with the tactic used by Democrats in Wisconsin. The legislation affecting collective bargaining passed in the state assembly, but is stalled in the state Senate because its 14 Democratic members fled the state, leaving the Senate one vote short of a quorum.
"They were elected to do a job and they are not doing it," Masser said. "If they don't agree with the bill, stay and fight their case."