Tosa Council Lets Mayor's Veto of Contracts Stand

Wauwatosa's controversial and emotional battle over contracts with city unions effectively ended Tuesday with still in place.

The Common Council voted to table any discussion of a possible override of that veto, leaving the unions working under existing agreements. The vote to "hold" the issue was 8-all, and the tie was broken, ironically, by Didier.

On April 19, the council , just weeks after voting them down. Didier announced the following day that she would veto the measure.

Ald. Dennis McBride (District 4) moved immediately on Tuesday to hold the override issue over after Didier officially introduced her veto.

"We've dealt with this issue in two meetings before in which we've heard from hundreds of people," McBride said. "I don't believe that any purpose will be served by bringing this up again."

There was little comment and no real debate.

Ald. Don Birschel (District 7) said, "I believe that we should take no action on this veto. This is a time for healing. I can only remember one time when there was an issue that divided us this much.

"That was 17 years ago when we took the cross off the city logo. It took a long time to heal. I don't think it will take that long to get over this."

Talks began in September

Tentative contracts with three unions representing city workers, not including police and firefighters, had been forged with negotiations that started in September. All three agreements featured zero-percent pay increases, which promised the city considerable savings as it entered what looked like a tough budgeting cycle.

The contracts were recommended by the council's Employee Relations Committee, but before the agreements were to come to the Common Council for final ratification, a public outcry commenced around Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, which would eliminate most collective bargaining rights for public unions.

That outcry spilled into the council chambers on March 15 when Tosa's governing body was confronted by about 100 upset citizens who wanted the contracts denied. They wanted the budget repair bill to go into effect before the city committed to any new agreements with public workers.

The deal with unions, which most city officials saw as beneficial, was soundly defeated by a Common Council overwhelmed by public opposition.

But within days, the budget repair bill was being challenged in court and could not go into effect for months. It will likely be sent to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, probably moving implementation of its savings to local governments until after the state must adopt a final budget.

In the meantime, city staff calculated that the provisions of the stalled contracts could be saving the city nearly $50,000 a month compared to the extension of existing contracts.

to call for a reconsideration of the March vote, setting up a showdown on April 19 in a special council meeting at which an evenly split and overflow crowd contributed to the longest public debate in memory on a single issue.

Those who wanted the contracts ratified said it was sound fiscal policy to save money now and in the months ahead while the budget repair bill is up in the air. Those opposed to the contracts argued that greater savings might be realized by not committing to the contracts but waiting for possibly greater savings when the repair bill ultimately does go into effect.

After 4 1/2 hours, the Common Council, with one member absent, voted 8-7 to ratify the contracts. But the next morning, the mayor nullified that vote with her veto.

After Tuesday's action, the contract dispute is for all purposes dead, with existing contracts remaining in effect until new agreements can be forged under whatever emerges from the battle in Madison over union bargaining rights.