WMC on Jobs: Corporate Profits are More Important Than the Rights and Safety of Workers

WMC Claim: "The creation of meaningful, well-paying jobs provides economic security and dignity to Wisconsin citizens."

WMC Watch Reality Check: Worker productivity levels are at historic highs, yet WMC lobbies against ensuring workers have the pay and benefits their hard work has earned. WMC has also fought against workers' rights and protections, as well as for less accountability for corporations.

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WMC’s Harmful Agenda on Working Families

Legislation Supported WMC supports shielding corporations from liabilities when products cause injury or harm. 2007 AB 128 WMC supports excluding income from a business from being taxed at a cost of at least $44 million a year. 2007 AB 671 WMC supports shielding corporations from consumer-protection rules. 2007 SB 219

Legislation Opposed WMC opposed changes to the law requiring companies that go bankrupt to pay banks before they pay wages owned to workers. 2009 AB 40 WMC opposes a bill that would authorize the circuit court to order an employer to pay punitive damages if they engage in discrimination. 2009 AB 31 WMC opposed raising the state minimum wage. 2009 SB 1 WMC opposes a bill that would require employers to give employees that are veterans the day off for Veterans Day. 2009 AB 9

For more information about WMC's lobbying effort, click here to visit the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board's website about WMC.

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WMC's Jobs Agenda in the Media

New WMC Ads Urge Opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)
WMC, Press Release, August 6, 2009

WMC has launched a new round of TV and radio ads urging Wisconsin residents to call [their elected officials] to urge them to vote “NO” on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)... EFCA would make it easier for unions to organize in your business. EFCA would eliminate the right to a secret ballot in a union organizing election, impose contracts based on the decisions of federal arbitrators, and increase fines and penalties for employers.

State Senate votes for $7.60 minimum wage
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 11, 2009
By Steven Walters

The state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would raise the minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.60 per hour - an increase that officials at the agency that administers the wage estimated would help about 225,000 workers… But Jim Pugh, spokesman for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business group, said the state's employers have serious concerns about the bill.