The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that a University of Chicago based researcher is enthusiastic about Milwaukee’s paid sick days ordinance. Inexplicably the business page reporter described it as “controversial.” A strange use of words since it was overwhelmingly passed by nearly 70 percent of Milwaukee voters. The only people that are creating a controversy are the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and their mouthpiece Steve Baas.

The researcher referenced in the story is Susan Lambert, a professor in the School of Social Service Administration and an authority on the relationship between employment and the well-being of those that are employed. Lambert says that she thinks that Milwaukee’s Paid Sick Days ordinance is “great overall.” She went on to point out the following:

A key barrier to sustained employment is having the opportunity to take time off when you or your child is ill," said Lambert, who's speaking Sunday in Milwaukee as part of an annual lecture for alumni and friends of the University of Chicago. "That certainly is reported by workers, especially in low-level hourly jobs, as something that prevents them from sustained employment.

The Center on Wisconsin Strategy has released its 2008 State of Working Wisconsin report and in surprise to very few, the George W. Bush economy continues to batter the state. In what appears to be a consistent theme throughout the Bush economy, the report finds that although productivity is up that many workers are simply not enjoying the benefit. Actually with each year, working folks have struggled more  and more in the last eight years.

More specifically the report found that Wisconsin has lost some 24,000 jobs since June 2007, 13,000 of which are manufacturing jobs. Wisconsin has a median wage that has fallen in recent years, and has a four-person family income that has fallen nearly $6,000 since 2000, three times the national drop. The report also found that although we have a relatively high health insurance coverage rate, it has been in a steady decline in recent years. One of the key reasons that we are seeing such a drastic decline is because too many employers are shifting away from providing health care for their employees. Unfortunately this is something that Senator John McCain’s health care plan would actually encourage. The rate of employees getting their insurance through their employer has fallen from 73 percent in 1979 to 58 percent in 2006. This change has had a very disproportionate and troubling effect on poverty-wage workers.

John McCain has been little more than a rubber stamp for the failing George W. Bush economy. Perhaps this is the reason that he has such a hard time bringing himself to admit that this economy has been very hard on the average American. June was the latest time where John McCain claimed that, “the fundamentals of the economy are very strong. Very strong.” Who exactly was he trying to convince with that statement, himself or the many working families that know different? In June this “very strong” economy lost another 62,000 jobs, making it the sixth straight month of negative job growth.

The Bush economy has been a boon for the wealthiest in our nation. John McCain is one of the richest members of the U.S. Senate, but could he really be so out of touch with the average person? Since when is massive job loss a sign of a “strong economy?” It looks like John McCain was right, he really does need more education on the economy.

One Wisconsin Now is marking the 45th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act’s passage by calling on Senator John McCain to promote policies in the U.S. Senate that close the pay gap between women and men once and for all.

In April, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have restored workers’ ability to pursue pay discrimination claims in the courts and provided greater protection for women receiving unfair wages. McCain explained his opposition to the bill by saying that instead of equal pay protection, women simply needed “education and training.” He even told a 14-year-old girl that he didn’t think protections for equal pay would do” anything to help the rights of women.”

The women and families of Wisconsin and the nation can’t afford McCain’s kind of costly inaction. In 2006, Wisconsin women’s wages were about 22 percent lower than men’s. That means a women working full-time in the state would earn around $28,000 per year, on average, compared with over $36,500 for a man. Earlier this year, Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Representative Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) authored the Equal Pay Enforcement Act. It passed in the state Senate but continues to languish in the Wisconsin Assembly. It’s time for Senator McCain to set the tone for our nation and its state legislatures by making equitable wages for women a priority.

Just yesterday U.S. Senator John McCain once again proved just how out of touch he is with regular working Americans. Despite all of the struggles that people are having he declared “I have a great belief that the fundamentals of the economy are very strong. Very strong.” Apparently he had to say it twice just to convince himself that the statement was true. Less than 24 hours after he made his proclamation, the Labor Department reported that the jobless rate has jumped to 5.5 percent in May, the biggest rise since 1986. That equates to 49,000 more jobs lost by President Bush and his enablers like McCain in Congress.

For McCain the eighth richest U.S. Senator with nine properties worth more than 13 million dollars, maybe the economy does seem very strong. Unfortunately not everyone is as privileged as the Arizona Senator. While he may be living high on the hog, working Americans are struggling to pay their mortgages, fill their gas tanks and pay the ever growing costs for basics like health care and food. On the economy the Senator promises more of the same, tax cuts for the wealthiest and even more tax loopholes for big corporations. He chooses this approach even though over the last seven years it has produced a disaster for our economy. McCain appears willingly delusional about our economy, even if that means celebrating things like record setting job loss.

During the month of May Labor 2008 will kick off its biggest mobilization effort. Union activists all around this country will be talking to union households about Sen. McCain’s anti-worker record. In Wisconsin people will be busy recruiting for member-to-member walks and phone banks. The walks begin Saturday May 10th in Milwaukee and May 17th in Wausau, Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Eau Claire and La Crosse.

Much of the effort will focus on John McCain’s healthcare plan and how it leaves Working Families on Their Own. Soaring health care costs are forcing wages down for people lucky enough to have insurance. Another 47 million are uninsured. Although John McCain says he intends to combat rising costs, his proposals protect insurance company profits at the expense of working families.

On Wednesday Democrats and some Republicans in Congress tried to pass a discrimination bill. It would have allowed employees more time to sue if they were being discriminated against in pay. The bipartisan effort was unsuccessful because of an almost exclusively Republican filibuster. Even if the measure would have passed, it would have also faced a promised veto from the President.

Specifically at issue was a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. It allows employers to continue paying their employees in a discriminatory fashion for the workers’ entire career if the employees don’t dispute their pay within the first 180 days. Prior to the ruling, most people understood that the 180-day limit was intended to apply to any paycheck not just the very first one. It can be difficult for employees to find out what other co-workers are making within the short time frame outlined in the Supreme Court decision.