Doyle Signs Council #1/WEAC Labor Contracts

Council #1/WEAC Government Relations Program Specialist Michael Walsh, and bargaining team representatives Jean Grossman and Mary Joas (pictured from left) watch Governor Doyle sign two long-awaited contracts.

Governor Jim Doyle signed two Council #1/WEAC employee labor contracts, for 2003-05 and 2005-2007, at the State Capitol Friday (May 5).

WEAC Government Relations Program Specialist Michael Walsh and bargaining team representatives Mary Joas and Jean Grossman, attended the signing, along with representatives from 10 other state employee groups, who also settled their contracts. In all, the contracts cover more than 24,000 state employees represented by 12 bargaining units.

"This is a great day - a long time in coming," Doyle said before signing the contracts. "I am really proud of all we have achieved in state government over the past three years, and none of it would have been possible without the hard work, dedication, and expertise of state employees."

Doyle said state employees have more than earned their raises, and the state is finally in a position to recognize that.

"When I took office in 2003, I inherited a $3.2 billion deficit - the largest per capita in the nation," he said. "But now, in no small part because of the work and sacrifice of our state employees, things are different in Wisconsin. We have put ourselves on a track of fiscal responsibility."

Posted May 8, 2006