VALaborMoney: Jody Wagner, $15K from AFSCME, and Collective Bargaining

Check out this press release from Bill Bolling's campaign--Wagner, who has received $15K from AFSCME, has two positions on collective bargaining for state employees--she's for it when NFIB asks and against it when Virginia Free asks about it.

You can guess what she told AFSCME about her position.

Press Release

For Immediate Release

JODY WAGNER: SHE JUST CAN'T GET IT RIGHT
Wagner Takes Big Money from AFSCME and Conflicting Positions on Collective Bargaining for State Employees

Recent reports that the mega-union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has given a $400,000 last-minute donation to the gubernatorial campaign of R. Creigh Deeds have highlighted just how important Big Labor considers a Democratic victory in Virginia this year.
But Big Labor isn't just banking on Deeds; they are also heavily invested in the campaign of Jody Wagner for Lieutenant Governor.
Unions have dumped nearly $100,000 into Wagner's campaign, hoping that a victory in her race will help them undermine Virginia's status as a Right to Work state.
Additionally, Wagner has solicited $15,000 in political contributions from AFSCME itself, a labor organization that strongly supports unionization and collective bargaining for public employees.
But what is Jody Wagner's position on collective bargaining for public employees? It appears to depend on who asks the question.
When asked on the National Federation of Independent Business survey if she supported "legislation to allow the Commonwealth or local governments to enter into collective bargaining agreements with public employee unions or associations," Wagner checked "yes."
However, when asked on the Virginia FREE survey whether she supported "legislation to grant public employee associations the right to binding arbitration, "meet and confer," and collective bargaining," Wagner answered "Oppose."
While these two answers are in direct conflict, a Wagner spokesman amazingly told the Washington Post that the two positions were not in conflict saying, "I believe those are consistent".(Washington Post, 9/18/09)
The fact that Jody Wagner says that she supports collective bargaining for state employees on one survey, opposes it on another survey, while taking thousands of dollars from the state employees union, should be very concerning to Virginia voters.
Collective bargaining for state employees is another issue where Jody Wagner Just Can't Get it Right. Virginia needs a Lieutenant Governor they can trust. Virginians cannot trust Jody Wagner, but they can trust Bill Bolling.
This isn't the first time Wagner has contradicted herself. During her campaign for Lieutenant Governor, Jody Wagner has repeatedly taken positions that are inconsistent, inaccurate and hypocritical. For example:

Jody Wagner claims that she helped restore fiscal responsibility to state government, but she refuses to take responsibility for her overly optimistic revenue projections that have caused over $7B in budget shortfalls and resulted in massive spending cuts to education, public safety and health care and the elimination of more than 2,000 state jobs.

Jody Wagner takes credit for creating 200,000 jobs during the Warner/Kaine administrations, but she ignores the fact that unemployment has doubled since she became Secretary of Finance, and 144,000 more Virginians are unemployed today than when she took office.

Jody Wagner has attacked Bill Bolling for missing meetings of certain Boards and Commissions that he sits on as Lieutenant Governor, even though she missed numerous meetings of important economic development and job creation boards that she sat on as Secretary of Finance.

Jody Wagner mismanagement the state budget, and when the magnitude of her financial mismanagement became apparent she quit to run for higher office. She didn't even bother to stick around and help clean up the mess she had created, putting her personal political ambitions ahead of her responsibility to the people of Virginia.

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Paid for and authorized by Bolling for Lieutenant Governor 09.