2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 27, it was reported by the media that Republican State Senator Dale Schultz would not vote for the bill. However, Schultz refused to let his own intentions be known regarding the bill; he had previously attempted a compromise budget plan, which was rejected by Governor Walker.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, February
On February 28, Democratic Representative Gordon Hintz formally apologized for threatening remarks made to Republican Representative Michelle Litjens on the Assembly floor following the vote. On February 28, the largest public union filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the state labor relations board, claiming that Walker had a duty to negotiate, but had refused.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
On March 3, police found 41 rounds of 22-caliber rifle ammunition outside the Wisconsin state Capitol. Ammunition was also found inside a city and county government building in downtown Madison. That same day security at the Capitol had become so restrictive that a team of firefighters responding to an emergency call were denied access to the building. On the same night, Rep. Nick Milroy (D-WI) was tackled by law enforcement officers while attempting to enter the Capitol to retrieve clothes. Milroy said in a statement that "no harm was done," but criticized the "armed-palace environment created by Gov. Walker."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
Also that same day, after occupation of the Capitol for more than two weeks, the final group of pro-union protesters left the building peacefully after Dane County Circuit Judge John Albert ordered their removal. The judge ruled that activists could not stay in the building overnight, but he ordered authorities to end the lockdown on the building and restore normal access by March 6.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
On March 4, Governor Walker threatened to send layoff notices to 1,500 state employees if the budget repair bill was not passed. According to Walker, this move was needed to save the state $30 million. However, in the February 28 phone call, Walker had discussed using the threat of layoffs as a political weapon to put pressure on the Senate Democrats, saying "We might ratchet that up a little bit, you know."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
On March 5, filmmaker Michael Moore spoke to a crowd of 50,000 protesters, drawing cheers from the crowd as he repeatedly said, "America is not broke," and adding, "The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
The Wisconsin Senate amended the bill to remove financial items, allowing it to be passed without a quorum. This allowed Republicans to pass the bill without Democrats present on March 9. None of the 14 Democrats were present for the vote. Senator Schultz was the lone "Nay" vote, with the other 17 Republicans voting to pass the amended bill. The amended bill was then sent to the Assembly.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
On Thursday, March 10, the Wisconsin Assembly passed the amended collective bargaining bill with a vote of 53–42. Protesters and Assembly Democrats shouted "shame!" as the Republicans quickly filed out of the building. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca filed a complaint the following morning with the Dane County district attorney charging that the Joint Conference Committee that convened at 6 pm Wednesday and passed an amended version of Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill was in violation of the open meetings law.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
The complaint stated that Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald and his brother, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and others "knowingly attended the meeting in violation of the Open Meetings law" and were subject to penalties identified in state statute. The complaint asked that the actions taken at the meeting be declared void. Democrats promised to sue to overturn the law. The 18 Republican state senators who voted for the law received death threats.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
Shortly afterwards, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the locked entrance to the Capitol, chanting "Break down the door!" and "General strike!" The crowds grew to thousands, surging into the Capitol. Police did not attempt to remove them. Department of Administration spokesman Tim Donovan said although protesters were being encouraged to leave, no one would be forcibly removed. Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said he had instructed Madison Police Chief Noble Wray not to allow his officers to participate in removing demonstrators from the building.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March
Katherine R. Windels of Cross Plains, Wisconsin sent death threat e-mails to Republican lawmakers the same day the legislation passed, and was arrested and charged with two felony and two misdemeanor counts by the Dane County district attorney.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Governor Walker's response
In the opinion section of The Wall Street Journal on March 10, 2011, Governor Walker expressed his reasons for "fighting in Wisconsin". He started his message discussing a teacher from Milwaukee Public Schools, Megan Sampson, who was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year (Walker was not truthful about the teacher's title), but received a layoff notice a week later. He stated that the collective-bargaining contract requires staffing decisions to be made based on seniority and she got a layoff notice because the union leadership would not accept reasonable changes to their contract.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Governor Walker's response
Instead, according to Walker, they hid behind a collective-bargaining agreement that cost the taxpayers $101,091 per year for each teacher, protected a 0% contribution for health-insurance premiums, and forced schools to hire and fire based on seniority and union rules. Walker's budget-repair bill would reform the union-controlled hiring and firing process by allowing school districts to assign staff based on merit and performance. He stated that most states in the country are facing major budget deficits.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Governor Walker's response
Many are cutting billions of dollars of aid to schools and local governments, and that these cuts lead to massive layoffs or increases in property taxes—or both. His proposal gave state and local governments the tools to balance the budget through reasonable benefit contributions. In total, Walker said the budget-repair bill saves local governments almost $1.5 billion, outweighing the reductions in state aid in the budget. He added that the unions claim they are willing to accept concessions, but their actions spoke louder than their words. During the three weeks following the publication of the opinion piece, local unions across the state pursued contracts without new pension or health-insurance contributions.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Governor Walker's response
Walker cited Governor Mitch Daniels as an example for his own budget repair when they repealed collective bargaining in Indiana in 2005, and claims it helped government become more efficient and responsive. He said the average pay for Indiana state employees has actually increased, and high-performing employees are rewarded with pay increases or bonuses when they do something exceptional and that passage of the budget-repair bill will help put similar reforms into place in Wisconsin.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Post-passage reactions
On March 11, Governor Walker signed the bill and put out a statement rescinding layoff notices for 1,500 public workers. He said the bill's passage "helped us save 1,500 middle-class jobs by moving forward this week with the budget repair. The state will now be able to realize $30 million in savings to balance the budget and allow 1,500 state employees to keep their jobs." In response, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk filed a lawsuit against the state regarding the bill, stating that it was unconstitutionally passed because the budget repair bill contained fiscal provisions.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Post-passage reactions
Judge Amy Smith recused herself from hearing the case, which was instead heard by Judge Maryann Sumi. A second lawsuit was filed against the state on similar grounds on March 16 by Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. The Wisconsin Secretary of State, Doug La Follette, a Democrat, delayed publishing the law as long as possible under the law.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Post-passage reactions
On March 12, the fourteen Democratic senators who had left the state returned and were met by crowds of between 85,000 and 185,000, the largest crowds yet of the four weeks of protests. Teachers, police, firefighters, nurses, and students were joined by farmers who paraded their farm vehicles around Capitol Square. One of the returning senators, Spencer Coggs, said that "[w]e are back to unite and fight with our supporters. We gave them hope. They gave us inspiration."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Post-passage reactions
In contrast, senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald said that the returning senators were "the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin [...] an absolute insult to the hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who are struggling to find a job, much less one they can run away from and go down to Illinois."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Post-passage reactions
On March 18, Dane County judge Maryann Sumi issued a stay on the collective bargaining bill in response to the lawsuit by Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. Ozanne had argued that the legislative committee violated the state's open meetings law, and that the budget repair bill was illegally passed because it contained budgetary provisions (and hence required a quorum). Sumi stated that the lawsuit was "likely to succeed on the merits." The judge's action did not prevent the legislature from meeting again and approving the bill a second time.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Post-passage reactions
On March 25, an additional lawsuit was filed against the state alleging that the budget repair bill still contained budget provisions, and hence was unlawfully passed by the state as it would have required a quorum. Also on March 25, after meeting with Senate Republicans, the Legislative Reference Bureau bypassed the Secretary of State's office and officially published the collective bargaining law. There had been a court-issued restraining order restricting its publication, but the order was issued against the Secretary of State's office instead of the Bureau.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, March, Post-passage reactions
According to the director of the Bureau, the publication is a purely ministerial act that forwards the bill to the Secretary of State; the bill needs to be published by the Secretary of State to become law. Despite this, Republicans claimed the bill was officially law and planned to enforce it. On March 29, Judge Maryann Sumi ruled the bill had not become law, and public officials who attempted to enforce it risked legal sanctions. On April 14, Judge Sumi threw out the lawsuit against the collective bargaining law sought by Dane County Acting Executive Kathleen Falk and Dane County Board Chairman Scott McDonnell. Judge Sumi ruled that an "arm of the state can not sue the state."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, April
On April 9, demonstrators marched from the Capitol to the offices of the state business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. The action was sparked in part by attention given to Charles and David Koch, billionaire brothers and conservative activists, who had supported Governor Walker.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, April
On April 13, the Hudson, Wisconsin Board of Education announced punishments ranging from one-day unpaid suspensions up to 15 days for teachers who called in sick on February 18, forcing their schools to close during the protests over the budget repair bill.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, April
On April 16, Sarah Palin attended a Tea Party rally in Madison. Speaking to the crowd, Palin stated, "Your governor did the right thing and you won! Your beautiful state won! And people still have their jobs!" The now deceased conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart spoke at the event and told labor supporters engaged in counter-protests, "Go to hell! You're trying to divide America!" Police estimated that about 6,500 people attended the event including Tea Party supporters and those demonstrating against the Walker administration policies.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, April
On April 20, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported costs associated with the protests. The Department of Natural Resources reported costs for personnel topped $350,000, and the parking tab for police to park their vehicles approached $100,000.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, April
On April 26, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health announced the discipline of 11 faculty members who distributed fake sick notes to public workers in order to protest, as well as twenty other doctors. The State of Wisconsin Medical Board disciplined seven doctors after receiving 300 complaints: Adam H. Balin, Mark B. Beamsley, Hannah M. Keevil, Bernard F. Micke, Kathleen A. Oriel, James H. Shropshire, and Louis A. Sanner. Dr. Louis A. Sanner was identified as the fraud ringleader. Ten student residents were given written reprimands.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, April
On April 28, it was reported that some of the doctors at the University of Wisconsin who gave out sick notes to union supporters skipping work to protest would face punishment ranging from written reprimands to docked pay and loss of leadership positions. The Medical Examining Board and state Department of Licensing and Regulation investigated the doctors. The medical school reviewed 22 doctors said to have been involved in giving medical excuses to protesters at the Capitol. At least a dozen doctors received disciplinary action in late April or early May.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, April
Some of the doctors appealed, and most cases were resolved by early July. The Wisconsin Medical Society criticized the doctors' actions, saying they threatened the public's trust in the medical profession. The state Department of Safety and Professional Services reviewed 11 doctors said to have written sick notes and launched formal investigations into eight of them. Sick notes that appeared to come from doctors at the protests were submitted by 84 teachers. The Madison School District denied a Wisconsin State Journal request to view the notes – with the teachers' names removed – under the state's open records law. The newspaper sued to have the notes released with a lawsuit now pending. The Madison School District could not release the notes at that time, as the notes were evidence in an investigation of two additional doctors who were later found guilty.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, May
On May 12, 100 pages of public records were released that detailed the emotions and threats that occurred during the protests. The vast majority were determined to present "no criminal nexus or viable threat," but a few remained open as cases with the Division of Criminal Investigation. Of the 78 actions made public, about 30 were directed at Democrats, a few less at Walker and other Republicans, and the balance consisted of vague or implied threats against no specific target, or concerns over demonstrators.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, May
On May 14, the Wisconsin Department of Administration estimated overtime and cleanup costs for the protests will reach about $8 million, of which $270,000 was marked for interior and exterior Capitol building repairs caused by accelerated wear and tear. However, an investigation by Politifact on March 11 revealed that the Administration submitted a revised estimate of $347,500 after the original high estimate memo was released. The same day, between 10,000 and 15,000 protesters participated in a rally protesting the collective bargaining bill, education cuts, BadgerCare cuts and immigrant rights.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, May
Christian Pacheco, a graduating high school senior, revealed at the protest that he was an illegal immigrant student. "My dream is to work hard and go to a UW school just like my peers", said Pacheco. "If I am force  [sic] to pay out of state tuition, out of my pocket, as Walker's budget proposes this dream will be crushed." The crowd chanted in support of Pacheco of shedding light into his experiences as an illegal immigrant.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, June
On June 2 in Madison, a blood drive sponsored by the Red Cross had to be rescheduled due to loud singing by anti-Walker protesters. The singers later apologized and said they would sing outside the Capitol during the rescheduled event and that they would donate blood to help make up for any lost donations.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, June
On June 8 in Madison, pro-union protesters dressed as zombies and caused some concerns during an event where the Governor honored the accomplishments of members of the Special Olympics. The organizers of the ceremony said the demonstration had not disrupted their event. The protest occurred the same day Capitol Police removed a dozen protesters dressed as zombies from the office of Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and arrested them. Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) issued a statement praising most demonstrators for being engaged in government but chiding a few for crossing the line in recent weeks.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, June
Protesters began living in tents around the Capitol in a complex they deemed "Walkerville" around the time the 2012 fiscal year budget was being debated.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, June
On June 14, The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously found Judge Maryann Sumi breached separation of powers when she blocked a bill in the Legislature, and submitted opinions on the open meetings law based along partisan lines. The controversial bill was then reinstated. On June 15, all the public unions in Wisconsin sued Walker in federal court, , but the case never went to trial.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, June
Around 3 a.m. on June 16, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed the 2012 fiscal year budget with a party line vote of 60–38. During the Senate debate, an onlooker was removed after screaming "Fascist" repeatedly at Republican Senator Glenn Grothman while he was speaking. The Senate subsequently approved the 2012 fiscal year budget later that day, with a party line vote of 19–14. Shortly after the vote, an onlooker repeatedly screamed "I want my democracy back!" and others screamed repeatedly "Kill the bill!" The screaming onlookers were removed shortly, except for the ones who chained themselves to the railing, who were later arrested.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, June
On June 27, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley filed a criminal complaint that claimed fellow Justice David Prosser "put her in a chokehold" on June 13. Other justices who claimed they witnessed the event were divided along partisan lines, with one side claiming Prosser attacked Bradley, and the other side claiming Bradley attacked Prosser. Two separate investigations resulted in no charges against either Prosser or Bradley.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, June, Decline in protests
The size of protests continued to decline during June. A number of events have been linked to the decrease in momentum of the protests, including the election of David Prosser to the state Supreme Court, the decision at the state supreme court on the collective bargaining law, and passage of Walker's budget in the state legislature. Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine said "People see that Walker won everything big that he asked for, and despite all the great activism, we don't have anything to show for it. The mass protests that I expected this week at the Capitol in Madison did not materialize." By June 14, the number of protesters at the Capitol was approximately 5,000 and by June 16 the number was down to about 1,000.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
When first announcing the budget repair bill on February 11, Walker said that the National Guard and other state agencies were prepared for any fallout including a walk-out by state prison guards. Although unable to cross state lines, Wisconsin State Patrol officers were sent to find the fleeing lawmakers.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
On February 14, Sgt. Dave McClurg, vice president of the Madison Police Officers' Unions stated "Madison police will be in attendance both to protest and, possibly, to help with crowd control. McClurg says there have been some discussions about Madison police performing in this capacity, which he admits would not be "comfortable."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
The City of Madison Police Spokesman Joel DeSpain issued a press-release on March 5, noting for the third weekend in a row that demonstrations had been peaceful. He said that there has been no arrests and no citations during the start of the weekend (March 4 and 5) where tens of thousands of protesters were present.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
In March, a paid signature gatherer working for the Republican party was cited for theft when he stole items belonging to a couple visiting Lambeau Field. Police identified him from video footage and confronted him a few days later. He had a criminal record from Colorado (his home state) and "was staying at the Road Star Inn in Ashwaubenon with several other out-of-town canvassers" working to recall Democratic State Senator Dave Hansen.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
In April, Katherine R. Windels, aged 26, from Cross Plains, Wisconsin was charged with two felonies for allegedly sending death-threat emails to Republican state Senators.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
FBI agents from Maine to California to Florida were involved regarding 100 pages of public records that were released, which detailed the emotions and threats that occurred during the protests. One man tweeted that he prayed an anvil would fall from the sky onto Walker. A suspect in Maine was arrested after sending letters to that state's Republican U.S. senators suggesting Walker should be killed and that all Republican governors resign.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
A Burbank, California resident who sent a long email offering a $50,000 bounty for Walker was interviewed by federal agents who determined he was mentally challenged and not a true threat. Police in Nebraska tracked down a man who posted to a Wisconsin man's Facebook page that he expected the shooting to start soon and that he would be ready to inflict nonlethal shots so others could hear screams. He told officers he got "carried away", hadn't intend to harm anyone and has never been to Wisconsin.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
A Stevens Point man called the State Police after he heard his accountant, whose wife is a teacher, remark that if Walker didn't stop attacking teachers unions he'd be assassinated. An agent interviewed the accountant and determined there was no threat.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
On June 8, a dozen silent demonstrators wearing zombie makeup and protest T-shirts were arrested after lying down on the floor of a legislator's Capitol offices and refusing to leave. Police carried out the demonstrators "one by one" after the group spent about half an hour in the offices of Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester).


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
On June 16, two protesters were arrested after locking themselves onto the Senate gallery railing with bike locks. Later in the day six other people in the Capitol had been arrested on allegations of disorderly conduct.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
On August 25, 13 protesters were arrested after they refused to leave the capitol after the designated 7 pm closing time. The protest came on the first day that higher pension and health contributions kick in for state employees.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Law enforcement actions
In December 2011, a man was recorded threatening a Recall Walker signature gatherer. He was later charged with disorderly conduct for doing so.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, State supreme court election
The state supreme court race between 12-year incumbent David Prosser, Jr. and challenger Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg was widely seen as a referendum on Governor Walker's proposed budget reforms in Wisconsin, with labor organizations and tea party groups explicitly making the connection while Governor Walker himself stating it was not. On Tuesday, April 5, one seat in the Wisconsin Supreme Court was up for election. The court currently has a conservative majority of 4-2-1 with Prosser identifying as a conservative and the seventh justice considered a swing vote. Both candidates stated their unhappiness with the increasingly partisan nature of the race. Following a recount, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board confirmed Prosser won the election.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison
Though the protest efforts are focused in Madison, there have been smaller protests throughout the rest of the state as well, with pro-union supporters as well as Walker supporters.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Union contract extension protests
In various localities throughout the state, communities are determining whether to extend or not to extend union contracts before Governor Walker's budget repair bill takes effect. In Wauwatosa, the common council voted not to ratify tentative agreements with the public works, dispatcher, clerical and fire unions after a crowd of about 100 people turned out, most urging city officials to wait until the governor's proposed state budget-repair bill became law.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Union contract extension protests
However, the council reconvened for a second time within a month to reconsider extending the contracts with both supporters and opponents lined up to speak at the special meeting held to reopen the discussion of the labor contracts, with the council voting 8–7 to extend the contracts. The mayor subsequently vetoed the measure and criticized the council's decision to take the approach they did to policy making.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Union contract extension protests
In Menomonee Falls, a majority of residents in attendance opposed a contract by a margin of nearly 5-to-1 against the ratification of new contracts, urging the board to wait, however it was passed after four hours of debate with members of the community shouting "shame" because the board approved the union contract extension. The Menomonee Falls School District and the teachers reached a tentative agreement on a two-year contract settlement. The board room was packed, and 50 to 75 more were gathered in the library watching the meeting on a live feed.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Union contract extension protests
Residents pleaded for the board to table the vote on the contract until more information could be gathered regarding the new contract. Residents said they wanted time to review the contract, discuss and debate it. The board signed a privacy provision with the teachers union in October before negotiations began. It restricted the board from releasing the actual 80-page contract document to the public before both the board and the teachers union approved it. The agreement also guaranteed a "yes" vote from two board members who are on the negotiating team.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Union contract extension protests
Even if the vote were delayed a week as requested, board members explained that they still would not be able to release the full contract document for the public to view. The board was unable to tell residents how much the co-pay for teachers would be with their new insurance provider. "We have to rely on our other board members", one board member said. "But in fairness to everyone, I will probably read it, but I will not read anything I don't already know."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Union contract extension protests
One local resident said of the actions by the school board, "What we have here is a major trust problem, and nobody trusts you right now." If the courts ruled the bill was law when Walker signed it, the law would become retroactive to that date, and this contract becomes void. If the law isn't enacted until after the vote, this contract would be valid for the duration of the agreement.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Union contract extension protests
Some unions were hoping to beat the deadline for the state's new collective bargaining law and get a new deal done. The Brown Deer School Board called for an emergency meeting the night before the budget repair law became effective to see if it could reach a last-minute deal with the teachers union. Dozens of Brown Deer taxpayers worried the board was going to rush through a teachers' contract before the law became effective.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Union contract extension protests
When asked if the teachers' union was trying to rush a deal to beat the deadline, Lisa Albers with the Brown Deer Education Association said: "I think rushing sounds a little bit harsh. The whole thing was we would work together and come to a common agreement." However, the board adjourned saying it needed more time. "We intend to make sure that we look at the governor's repair bill, said board president Gary Williams, "whatever we proposed will be consistent with the governor's repair bill."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Boycotts
Boycotts were implemented by opponents of Governor Walker's budget repair bill and other reforms by boycotting businesses whose executives had made political contributions to Walker. Boycotters said they wanted the companies to take a public position on Walker's bill, but some of the boycotted businesses did not do so. M&I Bank, one of the boycotted businesses, issued a statement that its employees contributed to both candidates in the last election.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Boycotts
One labor union consortium consisting of the state's largest police and fire unions, along with some local teachers unions, urged their members to engage in what it characterized as "voluntary consumer activism" if M&I would not support collective bargaining. Shortly thereafter, "Miracle on the Hudson" pilot Jeffrey Skiles withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars from his M&I accounts. Following the consortium's effort, David Galloway, the chairman of BMO Financial, which was in the process of purchasing M&I bank, stated that he supported "employees' rights to collectively bargain" after facing repeated questions on the subject at a March 22 shareholders' meeting in Vancouver.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Protests, Outside Madison, Boycotts
There was an effort by the Wisconsin State Employees Union to circulate letters to businesses in southeast Wisconsin urging them to support workers’ rights by putting up a sign in their windows. If businesses failed to comply, the letter advised, "Failure to do so will leave us no choice but (to) do a public boycott of your business. And sorry, neutral means 'no' to those who work for the largest employer in the area and are union members." One local business owner said "I was just disappointed; I didn't like the tone of the letter. To me, it bordered on strong-arm tactics." Another business owner put up a sign that read "We Support Union Grove Not Bully Tactics".


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, During the protest period
Polls during this period differed by the political bias of pollster. For example, one poll would indicate 64% of Americans felt public employees should not be represented by public unions, when other would indicate that 61% of Americans would oppose a law similar to the Wisconsin bill in their state while 33% were for it. A Rasmussen poll of Wisconsin voters conducted on March 2, 2011 reported that 39% support weakening collective bargaining rights while 52% oppose the idea. A majority said they supported the Democrats (52%) or the unions (56%) in the current dispute, while 41–44% supported Walker's position.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, During the protest period
Asked whether state workers should be given a 10% pay cut, 44% said yes, while 38% oppose a pay cut. Polling analyst Nate Silver criticized methodology of the Rasmussen polls in his The New York Times blog, claiming that it had biased questions, giving a misleadingly negative impression of the protesters.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, During the protest period
In an analysis of several concurrent public opinion polls, pollster Scott Rasmussen identified the source of seeming contradictions in the results. The results depended on the way the questions are worded. If the collective bargaining issue was worded in the context of balancing the state budget, Governor Walker does better. If the question is worded more narrowly, mentioning only the collective bargaining dispute, the unions fare better. A Pulse Opinion Research poll conducted of likely Wisconsin voters found that 56% support collective bargaining rights for public employees with 32% opposed. In the same poll, approval and disapproval for the bill was split at 50%–50% while 49% supported the protesters and 48% opposed them.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, During the protest period
A Public Policy Polling poll of Wisconsin voters found that given a chance to vote in a rematch between Walker and 2010 Democratic nominee Tom Barrett, Walker would have lost 45%–52%. (In the actual election, Walker won 52–46%.) The poll's analysis characterized the shift as the result of changing opinions due to the budget protests. Public Policy Polling (PPP) is a Democratic Party-affiliated polling firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, During the protest period
A SUSA poll in the districts of Republican senators Dan Kapanke and Randy Hopper found that double-digit margins in both districts would vote to recall the Senators.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, During the protest period
On March 15, PPP conducted a poll for Daily Kos in the districts of all eight Republican senators being recalled. The poll found that three trailed generic Democratic candidates, three had small leads, and two were safe:


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, During the protest period
Wisconsin Public Radio released several polls April 22 related to the Wisconsin protests:


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, After the protest period
The conservative think tank Manhattan Institute for Policy Research released a poll on September 20. They interviewed 400 registered Wisconsin voters between August 29 and September 5. The margin of error was +/- 4.9% points.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, After the protest period
On October 26, the Liberal Public Policy Polling organization released a poll focusing on Scott Walker's possible recall. It revealed the following;


2011 Wisconsin protests, Public opinion, After the protest period
On January 25, 2012, Marquette University Law School released the results of a statewide poll focusing on Governor Walker and his possible recall.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects
On February 17, the Madison Metropolitan School District canceled classes until February 23 because of expected staff and student absences. Numerous other districts across the state also closed due to the protests including Milwaukee, La Crosse, Wausau, and others. Two days after the protests began, protests spread to Columbus, Ohio over similar legislation. Similar protests also occurred at the Nevada State Capitol in Carson City on February 21, 2011, and at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on February 26, 2011.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects
The Wisconsin Legislature stated they would continue passing non-budget items with no Democratic opposition in the Senate starting on February 22. On Thursday, March 3, Wisconsin Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch claimed that the weeks of demonstrations resulted in $6.5 million in damages and other costs to the Capital. The next day he admitted that he had no basis for the higher figure and that the actual cleanup costs could be as low as $347,500. State architect Jeffrey Plale, a former Democratic state senator who was appointed to his post by Walker, stated that he had not observed any damages from demonstrations.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects
On March 21, Professor William Cronon of the University of Wisconsin wrote an op-ed opposing the bill. In response, the Wisconsin Republican Party filed a state open records request for access to Cronon's university emails to discover the sources and discussions that went into the article. The Republican Party's request was criticized for purportedly creating a chilling effect. In response, the Republican Party released a statement accusing Cronon of intimidation.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Legislative walkout
In another form of protest, and as a tactic to prevent passage of the bill, all 14 Democratic members of the Wisconsin State Senate left the state of Wisconsin and traveled to Illinois in order to delay a vote on the bill. With only 19 Republican members, the Senate would not have the 20 Senators required for a quorum in order to vote on the bill, since it is a fiscal bill. On February 20, all 14 Senate Democrats announced they were staying in Illinois indefinitely.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Legislative walkout
In a possible lure to get the 14 Democratic Senators to return, the Wisconsin legislature reported they would try to pass a bill that would require citizens to have some form of voter identification to vote. Democrats strongly opposed the bill, but because there were no Democratic senators to defend their position, the bill was expected to pass the Senate easily.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Legislative walkout
On February 24, the Republicans in the Senate moved the voter ID provision past the amendable stage but were unable to take a final vote on it because it spends money for free ID's to comply with federal constitutional requirements. As a fiscal provision, the voter ID bill would require the same quorum currently denied over the main budget bill. The State Senate Majority Leader, Scott Fitzgerald, proposed that Democratic staffers should lose access to the copy machines if their representatives were absent without leave for two days or more, forcing staffers to pay for printing themselves.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Legislative walkout
Senators would no longer receive their wages via direct deposit if they were AWOL for two days or more and would have to collect them in person. (Senator Jon Erpenbach was able to circumvent this by granting his staffers power of attorney.) On March 2, Senate Republicans voted to fine members who are AWOL for two days or more $100 per day of absence.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Legislative walkout
On March 3, the Wisconsin Senate Republicans ordered the arrest of the Wisconsin 14 for being "in contempt and disorderly behavior", authorizing the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms to seek help from law enforcement officers and to use force to return the senators to the Capitol. Jim Palmer, the head of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, described the action as a violation of the Wisconsin state constitution.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Legislative walkout
Walker also tried other methods to get the Wisconsin 14 to return to the state, saying that if the bill was not passed by February 25, 1,500 state workers would be laid off. That deadline passed without incident. On February 27, he announced a new deadline of March 1. On March 4, Walker issued layoff warning notices to some state employees, and rescinded those notices upon passage of the budget repair bill. In an attempt to compromise with the Democrats who left the state, Walker proposed allowing public workers to continue bargaining over their salaries with no limit as well as allowing collective bargaining to stay in place on mandatory overtime, performance bonuses, hazardous duty pay and classroom size for teachers.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Legislative walkout
On March 9, the senate removed fiscal applications from the bill, allowing it to be passed without a quorum. On March 12, the "14" returned to Wisconsin, to loud acclaim from protesters and condemnation from the Senate Majority Leader, Scott Fitzgerald. On March 15 Fitzgerald announced that despite returning, none of the Senate Democrats will be allowed to cast official votes on the union legislation.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Contract extensions
During the numerous delays related to enactment of the budget repair law, several communities were pursuing to extend union contracts although there have been cases of communities electing to wait for the budget repair bill to take effect. In some cases residents staged protests at open meetings in opposition to extending union contracts. Regarding school districts deciding whether or not to extend union contracts, whether they decided to wait for the law to take effect or not, most districts elected to include the same basic concessions on health care and pensions.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Contract extensions
The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association said "no deal" to a proposal that would have them make concessions similar to those called for under the budget repair law. The union said that it has already made all the concessions that it will make. The proposed Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) budget would cut 989 full-time positions through attrition and layoffs. On June 29, the same day the budget repair law became effective, MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton announced that 519 layoff notices would be issued for next school year, including 354 teachers. Most members pay about $1,000 per year in dues.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Contract extensions
Teachers in the Hartland-Lakeside School District agreed to switch health insurance providers to save the district $690,000, but the executive committee of a union that represents the teachers blocked the change.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Contract extensions
In Milwaukee County, when it was known that the budget repair law was to take effect on June 29, the county board approved a union contract on June 23 for nurses, which would preserve their say on working conditions as well as union grievance procedures. Meanwhile, negotiations were under way on a new contract for the county's largest union in an effort to beat the state law, although it appeared likely they had run out of time to do so. The Appleton teachers union made a similar last minute contract extension before the deadline.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Contract extensions
Recruitment for the union took place for school districts that elected to wait before extending union contracts. Union membership was steady in districts that signed or extended contract agreements with unions before the budget repair legislation passed because dues are taken out automatically.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Special assembly elections
On May 3, special elections were held for 3 vacant seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly. The 3 seats were formally held by Republicans that were appointed to higher positions by Governor Walker.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections
According to the advocacy group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the recall elections from 2011 and 2012 generated spending between $125 million and $130 million. Approximately $44 million was spent on the 2011 senatorial recall elections, and over $80 million was spent on the gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns in 2012. This compares to the $37.4 million spent on the 2010 Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign. Over $20 million of taxpayer funds were spent on the fifteen recall elections, costs incurred by the state elections board due to petition verification, and oversight of the elections. The primary and general election for the statewide recalls in 2012 cost taxpayers about $18 million, while the 2011 senate recalls cost taxpayers $2.1 million.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2011 senatorial recall elections
There were efforts to recall eight Democrats and eight Republicans related to the budget repair bill. The Democrats were targeted for leaving the state for three weeks to prevent the budget repair bill vote from taking place while the Republicans were targeted for voting to seriously limit public employee collective bargaining. Scholars could cite only three times in U.S. history when more than one state legislator was subject to a recall election at roughly the same time over the same issue.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2011 senatorial recall elections
Six Republicans and three Democrats faced recall elections in August 2011. Efforts to recall Glenn Grothman (R-20th District), Mary Lazich (R-28th District), Lena Taylor (D-4th District), Spencer Coggs (D-6th District), Fred Risser (D-Madison), Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) and Mark Miller (D-Monona) were unsuccessful.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2011 senatorial recall elections
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board voted in favor of all recall elections, but scheduled the Democratic recall elections one week after (August 16, 2011) the Republican recall elections.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2011 senatorial recall elections
On August 9, the Republicans won enough seats to keep control of the Wisconsin Senate, despite losing Randy Hopper's and Dan Kapanke's seats, bringing the largest group of simultaneous recall elections in United States history to a close. The results were regarded as a disappointment for Democrats and labor unions.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2012 gubernatorial and senatorial recall elections
On November 15, the recall petitions against Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch began to circulate. Supporters of the recall had to collect 540,206 valid signatures by January 14.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2012 gubernatorial and senatorial recall elections
On January 17, over 1 million signatures to recall Governor Walker were submitted to the state GAB on over 100,000 recall petitions. On March 30, 2012, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board certified recall elections for Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2012 gubernatorial and senatorial recall elections
Tom Barrett won the Democratic primary on May 8, and went up against Walker on June 5.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2012 gubernatorial and senatorial recall elections
Walker received over 625,000 votes, the most votes for a candidate in a Wisconsin gubernatorial primary since 1952.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Recall elections, 2012 gubernatorial and senatorial recall elections
On March 12, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board confirmed enough signatures had been submitted to recall each of the four Republican state senators. Republicans Scott Fitzgerald and Terry Moulton won their respective recalls. Republican Jerry Petrowski won the open seat vacated by Pam Galloway. Republican Van Wanggaard was defeated by Democrat John Lehman, whom Wanggaard had defeated in 2010. This shifted the power of the Wisconsin Senate briefly to the Democrats, but the Senate Republicans regained a majority (albeit slightly reduced from before) in 2013, after one Democratic State Senator retired and two others lost their own election races in 2013.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, District savings
In Kaukauna, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn a $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. In April 2011, the union had offered healthcare and pension concessions as well as a wage freeze, which it projected would save $1.8 million, but the offer was rejected by the school board. "The monetary part of it is not the entire issue," said board President Todd Arnoldussen.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, District savings
"It was in the collective bargaining agreement that we could only negotiate with them," said Arnoldussen referring to the past, when Kaukauna's agreement with the teachers union required the school district to purchase health insurance coverage from WEA Trust – a company created by the Wisconsin teachers union. This year, the trust told Kaukauna that it would face a significant increase in premiums. With the collective bargaining agreement gone, the school district is free to shop around for coverage.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, District savings
Kaukauna can reduce the size of its classes – from 31 students to 26 students in high school and from 26 students to 23 students in elementary school. In addition, there will be more teacher time for one-on-one sessions with troubled students. Those changes would not have been possible without the changes in collective bargaining. The money saved will be used to hire a few more teachers and institute merit pay.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, District savings
The city of Milwaukee projects it will save at least $25 million a year and possibly as much as $36 million in 2012 from health care benefit changes due to not having to negotiate with unions. This is offset by about $14 million in cuts in state aid. This contrasts with Mayor Tom Barrett's initial comments in March, after the Walker administration and the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau released figures on the extent of the aid cuts in the state budget.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, District savings
Racine County estimates it will save over $1.5 million in employee pension contributions that resulted from recent state collective bargaining changes. In addition, county employees will be more limited on how much comp time they can accrue, will need to pay more for name-brand prescription drugs and will not be able to receive overtime unless they work more than 40 hours. Racine County Executive Jim Ladwig, who proposed the changes, estimated the changes will save the county several hundred thousand dollars per year.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, District savings
Other examples of district savings include Oshkosh school board, which will save over $3.7 million over the next three years.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, District savings
Menomonee Falls school board will save $2.4 million by changing health providers, Hudson school district will save over $1 million by changing health providers, Shorewood school district will save $537,000 by changing health providers, Ashland school district will save $378,000 by changing health providers,  and Wauwatosa school board which would have faced a choice of laying off more than 100 teachers and other employees, yet were able to prevent that outcome by implementing pay freezes and employees accepting higher pension payments and higher deductible health care plans as well as the property tax levy projected to decrease.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Tax levy reductions
Tax levy figures for the 2011–12 school year show the total tax levy is down more than $47 million for K-12 schools. This amounts to a 1% decrease on the school tax portion of the average property tax bill. Since 1996, it is only the second time the total school tax levy has dropped. Over the last five years the tax levy, on average, increased by $181 million each year. In total, 269 school districts have a property tax levy lower or the same as last year and 200 school districts not only lowered their levy, but cut their mill rate.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Reductions in state aid
The budget repair law reduced state aid to K-12 school districts by about $900 million over the next two years. 410 of Wisconsin's 424 districts will get about 10 percent less aid than the previous year. The biggest losses in dollar amounts will occur in the Milwaukee, Racine and Green Bay districts; Milwaukee will lose $54.6 million, Racine $13.1 million and Green Bay $8.8 million. State aid to schools is computed by a complex formula based on property values, student enrollment and other factors. Property-poor districts get more aid than property-rich districts because they have lower property taxes.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Reductions in state aid
A provision in the budget repair law restricts the options of what districts can collect in property taxes and other revenue by requiring a referendum to prevent them from trying to replace their losses in state aid without first going to the citizens of the district. In Milwaukee, district officials announced they have eliminated 514 vacant positions and laid off almost 520 employees, including 354 teachers, mostly from elementary schools, which will result in larger class sizes. The Milwaukee School Board asked its teachers union for a side agreement requiring teachers to contribute 5.8% of their pay toward pensions, as the teachers union contract extends through 2013.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Reductions in state aid
The pension contribution would have saved about $20 million and 200 jobs, however the union rejected the concession. The Racine district has saved about $18 million from a wage freeze and larger employee contributions to pensions and health care, but the loss of state aid still required the elimination of 125 positions (although a larger than usual number of retirements and resignations and soon-to-be eliminated positions that are already vacant means the district will actual need to lay off only 60 employees) and the closing of all but one swimming pool for the summer. The Green Bay district also froze wages and required greater employee contributions to pensions and health care, but the district has stopped filling vacancies and may have to combine elementary grades into single classrooms.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Reductions in state aid
Nearly 70% of state school districts will be eligible for special adjustment aid, largely because of the decrease in the state's share of support. The special adjustment aid is intended to provide school districts with 90% of the state general aid from the previous year.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
Since teachers' unions are no longer able to automatically deduct dues from teachers' paychecks because of the new budget repair law, unions are using a variety of methods including using a combination of meetings, emails, phone calls and home visits to get teachers signed up for dues collection. Some school districts are primarily signing members up for electronic funds transfers so they can deduct money monthly. The latest IRS filing available shows that WEAC collected about $23.5 million in membership dues in fiscal year 2009 from its approximately 98,000 members.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
Most of the membership dues go to pay salaries and benefits. The organization employed 151 people and paid them $14,382,812, which is an average compensation total of $95,250 per employee. This figure includes not only professional staff but also lost wages paid to union bargaining team members, officers, and delegates to conventions.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), announced they would lay off about 40% of its workforce. The layoffs and budget cuts are based on a projected loss of revenue as a result of the budget repair legislation.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
For the affected unions, Act 10 prohibited collective bargaining agreements from covering any topic other than base wages, with any raises prohibited from exceeding the cost of inflation. Furthermore, it required the unions to hold an election every year where 51% of all employees (not simply 51% of those choosing to vote) had to vote Yes in order to continue collective bargaining in the coming year. Given these constraints, a number of unions declined to participate in the annual election, and thus were "decertified"—no longer recognized as a collective bargaining agent by the state of Wisconsin.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
The UW-Madison teaching assistant union, which was at the forefront of the protests against the new budget repair law, declined to recertify their union in August 2011. Union leaders for state and local government workers said they also were leaning toward not recertifying.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
On August 29, 2011, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) announced it would allow local union affiliates to possibly drop certification and that the group would accept whatever the local unions chose.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
On September 21, the 23,000-member Wisconsin State Employees Union announced it would not recertify. The state employee unions represented by the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin also mostly declined to recertify, with only a small local, the Professional Employees in Research, Statistics and Analysis, representing 58 employees, announcing a recertification vote among its members. Only 4 small unions are expected to recertify on the deadline for re-certification, 4:30 pm on September 22. They represent building trades workers, prosecutors, attorneys, and state research employees. Any union that has not filed re-certification by this time will lose official certification within the state.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
Some school and local government employees have outstanding contracts and won't have to vote to recertify until these current contracts run out. Unions for teachers and other school district employees without contracts have until Sep 30 to file for a recertification election. Municipal employees without contracts have until Jan. 30. Besides the state unions, 13 other local government and school district unions so far have also filed with the state seeking a recertification election.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Effect on public sector unions
In December 2011, many local teachers unions (177 of 206) voted to re-certify. A majority of those teachers unions that held elections voted to re-certify and a majority of those that failed to re-certify did so due to rules in the new law treating a non-vote the same as a vote against recertification. For example, in one election the teachers' union was de-certified when the vote to re-certify was 31 in favor of recertification and 1 against. However, since the union was listed as having 64 members, the union was decertified because a majority of total members (33) is required to re-certify, not a majority of votes cast.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Requests for union contract concessions
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett asked city firefighters and police officers to voluntarily accept the pension and health care concessions that the state budget-repair bill required on most other public employee unions. Without such concessions, city officials would be forced to cut deeply into other services to make up for the cuts in state aid included in Gov. Scott Walker's 2011–'13 state budget.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Requests for union contract concessions
Walker's budget-repair bill would require most state and local government and school district employees to pay at least 5.8% of their pension costs and 12.6% of their health care premiums, while eliminating most collective bargaining, except for wages, within strict limits. But none of those changes would apply to police officers, firefighters, sheriff's deputies or state troopers. The firefighters union have been without a contract for about 14 months, and negotiations have been in mediation since the fall of 2011. The police union is open to considering the mayor's request.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Requests for union contract concessions
Leaders of the Milwaukee teachers union, Milwaukee Public Schools administration and School Board asked the state Legislature to create a window of time for the district to negotiate compensation or fringe-benefit concessions without nullifying existing union contracts. Milwaukee Public Schools must contribute nearly $10 million more to the city's pension plan because of financial market downturns. That pension is for nonclassified district employees such as educational assistants and engineers, but fulfilling the obligation means even more money could be taken from the classroom in a time of already reduced finances.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Requests for union contract concessions
The school board in December 2011, decided to increase employee contributions to their health care and pension plans, but those won't initiate until contracts expire in the summer of 2012 for many district employees. The teachers' contract expires in the summer of 2013. The existing contract includes a 3% salary raise, and School Board President Michael Bonds considered asking the union if it would forgo that raise. Instead, he said, they decided to try to ask the state Legislature for permission to reopen the whole contract to look at various elements without penalty.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Requests for union contract concessions
The Assembly and Senate agreed to allow Milwaukee schools to reopen negotiations for compensation or fringe-benefit concessions without nullifying existing union contracts. The measure giving them 90 days passed the Assembly and Senate. Gov. Scott Walker supports the measure. Other teachers unions asked Milwaukee to withdraw its request, saying it would give Walker a political advantage in the recall election.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Teacher sick-out and school closures
In 2018, after experiencing reductions in compensation and benefits  40% of Wisconsin teachers called in sick as part of protests planned at the capitol while school was in session. This resulted in multiple school closures.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Legal challenges
After the collective bargaining bill was signed into law, Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi struck it down, ruling that it was passed in violation of the Open Meetings Law. The Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Sumi's ruling on June 14.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Legal challenges
In July 2011, workers from two local chapters of the AFL-CIO filed a lawsuit against the law, alleging it violates the US Constitution's equal protection clause by limiting collective bargaining only for public workers. Another lawsuit was filed by opponents of the Budget Repair Bill, raising claims that public workers could lose their jobs to Wisconsin prisoners by officials who will now have greater leeway to assign those jobs previously reserved for unionized employees.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Legal challenges
On December 30, 2011, Dane County district attorney Ismael Ozanne asked the state Supreme Court to reopen the collective bargaining case because he said Justice Michael Gableman was wrong to participate in the matter due to possible ethics violations.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Legal challenges
On March 30, 2012, a federal court struck down key parts of the collective bargaining legislation, ruling that the state cannot prevent public employee unions from collecting dues and cannot require they recertify annually. On September 24, 2012 the State of Wisconsin appealed that decision at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Legal challenges
On September 14, 2012, Dane County circuit Judge Juan Colas decided to overturn the law restricting collective bargaining rights for public employees, ruling that the law violates state and federal constitutions. There are 29 Supreme Court precedent decisions on the same issue that indicates the contrary.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Legal challenges
In January 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh District upheld the Wisconsin collective bargaining law.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Effects, Outcomes since law became effective, Legal challenges
In September 2013, U.S. District Judge William Conley threw out the lawsuit from two public sector unions for "contending the law violates their rights to freedom of association and equal protection under the law." First Amendment does not require an affirmative response from governmental entities; it simply requires the absence of a negative restriction," Conley wrote. "Under Act 10, general employees remain free to associate and represent employees and their unions remain free to speak; municipal employers are simply not allowed to listen."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Responses, Think tanks
Their sentiments have been echoed by other nonpartisan watchdog groups, both local (such as Wisconsin Common Cause) and national (such as the Public Campaign Action Fund), who have requested that state authorities review Walker's conduct in the fake call to determine whether he had violated ethics/campaign laws.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Responses, Other
The New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks wrote that "[i]t's the Democratic minority that is thwarting the majority will by fleeing to Illinois". Brooks opined that private sector unions push against the interests of shareholders and management while "public sector unions push against the interests of taxpayers". He also wrote that private sector union members "know that their employers could go out of business, so they have an incentive to mitigate their demands; public sector union members work for state monopolies and have no such interest."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Responses, Other
The protests and the recall were the subject of the 2013 documentary Citizen Koch.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Related news
Indiana Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Cox was fired after suggesting that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker use live ammunition against pro-union protesters involved in the 2011 Wisconsin protests. Later, a Deputy Prosecutor in Johnson County, Indiana, Carlos Lam, suggested that Governor Walker should mount a "false flag" operation that would make it appear as if the union was committing violence. After initially claiming that his email account was hacked, Lam admitted to making the suggestion and resigned. Cullen Werwie, press secretary for Governor Walker, stated that Walker's office was unaware of Lam's email.


2011 Wisconsin protests, Related news
CBS News reported that Werwie commented, "Certainly we do not support the actions suggested in (the) email. Governor Walker has said time and again that the protesters have every right to have their voice heard, and for the most part the protests have been peaceful. We are hopeful that the tradition will continue."


2011 Wisconsin protests, Related news
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a conservative research group in Michigan, issued a public records request to the labor studies departments at three public universities in the state, seeking any e-mails involving the Wisconsin labor protests. The request asked the three universities' labor studies faculty members for any e-mails mentioning "Scott Walker", "Madison", "Wisconsin" or "Rachel Maddow". Greg Scholtz, the director of academic freedom for the American Association of University Professors, said: "We think all this will have a chilling effect on academic freedom. We've never seen Freedom of Information Act requests used like this before."


2011 Wofford Terriers football team
The 2011 Wofford Terriers team represented Wofford College in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Terriers were led by 24th-year head coach Mike Ayers and played their home games at Gibbs Stadium. They are a member of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 8–4, 6–2 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid into the FCS playoffs where they lost in the second round to Northern Iowa.


2011 Wokingham Borough Council election
The 2011 Wokingham Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Wokingham Unitary Council in Berkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2011 Wokingham Borough Council election, Background
A total of 72 candidates contested the 18 seats which were up for election. These were 18 Conservative, 17 Liberal Democrat, 16 Labour, 10 Green Party, 10 United Kingdom Independence Party and 1 independent candidates. Councillors standing down at the election included Conservatives Pam Stubbs and Steve Chapman from Barkham and Sonning wards respectively.


2011 Wokingham Borough Council election, Background
Issues in the election included plans for a new supermarket and traffic congestion.


2011 Wokingham Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives hold control of the council after gaining 2 seats from the Liberal Democrats to have 45 of the 54 seats. The Liberal Democrats were reduced to 9 seats after the party lost 2 of the 4 seats they had been defending in Bulmershe and Whitegates and Winnersh. The Conservatives held all 14 seats they had been defending and among the winners for the party was Abdul Loyes, who returned to the council for Loddon one year after losing his seat there.


2011 Wokingham Borough Council election, Election result
The Liberal Democrat leader on the council, Pru Bray, put the defeats down to national events, with the party being part of the national coalition government. Meanwhile, the Conservative leader of the council, David Lee, described the results as "brilliant" and attributed them to "hard work" in the campaign and over the previous year.


2011 Wollongong floods
The 2011 Wollongong floods, beginning in March 2011, were a series of floods occurring throughout Wollongong and the Illawarra regions of New South Wales, Australia. The floods were the result of a storm cell covering most of the southern regions of the state and torrential rain in suburban Sydney and nearby regional areas.


2011 Wollongong floods
Sixteen pre-school children and their carers were rescued at Jamberoo by the State Emergency Service. Albion Park received 63 millimetres (2.5 in) of rain in the hour leading up to 1 pm on 21 March 2011. A man, presumed to be in his forties, was found dead 150 kilometres (93 mi) east from a stormwater bridge as torrential rain continued fall across the Illawarra on 21 March. Dozens of people were rescued as highways were shut and trains suspended until the waters subsided.


2011 Wollongong floods
The Bureau of Meteorology issued flash flood warnings for the South Coast, Riverina, Illawarra, South West Slopes, Snowy Mountains and Southern Tablelands, with heavy rain expected to continue. In the first 48 hours of the flood (20–21 March) 160 millimetres (6.3 in) of rain has fallen in Wollongong. Robertson in the Southern Highlands recorded the state's highest rainfall on 21 March with 83 millimetres (3.3 in) equalling the March record for 2003.


2011 Wollongong floods
The Princes Highway was closed around Station Street, Albion Park and at Kiama after a tree fell and blocked the road. The Southern Freeway was closed at Berkeley and the Illawarra Highway was also closed.


2011 Wolverhampton City Council election
Elections to Wolverhampton City Council were held on 5 May 2011, the same day as the national referendum on the Alternative Vote, in Wolverhampton, England. One third of the council was up for election.


2011 Wolverhampton City Council election, Composition
Prior to the election, the composition of the council was:


2011 Women's African Volleyball Championship
The 2011 Women's African Nations Championship was the 15th edition of the Women's African Volleyball Championship organised by Africa's governing volleyball body, the Confédération Africaine de Volleyball. It was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 17 to 24 August 2011. The winner qualifies for the 2011 FIVB World Cup, in November, in Japan.


2011 Women's African Volleyball Championship
Kenya won the championship defeating Algeria in the final and Egypt finished third defeating Senegal for the bronze medal.


2011 Women's African Volleyball Championship, Format
The tournament is played in two stages. In the first stage, the participants are divided in two groups. A single round-robin format is played within each group to determine the teams' group position (as per procedure below). The top four teams in each group advance to the second stage, only the fifth placed team does not and finish the tournament in last place.


2011 Women's African Volleyball Championship, Format
In the second stage, the two best teams of each group progress to the semifinals, while the third and fourth placed teams from each group progress to the classification matches (for 5th to 8th place). The second stage of the tournament consists of a single-elimination.


2011 Women's African Volleyball Championship, Pool composition
The drawing of lots was held in Nairobi, Kenya on 16 August.


2011 Women's Asian Champions Trophy
The 2011 Asian Women's Hockey Champions Trophy was the 2nd edition of the Women's Asian Champions Trophy, a biennial women's international field hockey tournament organized by the Asian Hockey Federation. The tournament was held alongside the men's tournament in Ordos, China from 4 to 10 September 2011.


2011 Women's Asian Champions Trophy
The top four Asian teams (China, India, Japan, and South Korea) participated in the tournament which involved round-robin league among all teams followed by play-offs for final positions.


2011 Women's Asian Individual Squash Championships
The 2011 Women's Asian Individual Squash Championships is the women's edition of the 2011 Asian Individual Squash Championships, which serves as the individual Asian championship for squash players. The event took place in Penang in Malaysia from 26 to 30 April 2011. Nicol David won her eighth Asian Individual Championships title, defeating Annie Au in the final.


2011 Women's Australian Hockey League
The 2011 Women's Australian Hockey League was the 19th edition of the women's field hockey tournament. The finals week of the tournament was held in the Northern Territory city of Darwin.


2011 Women's Australian Hockey League
The Southern Suns won the gold medal for the second time by defeating the NSW Arrows 1–0 in the final.


2011 Women's Australian Hockey League, Competition Format
The format included five-round matches over two weekends and a finals week that consisted of two-round matches and three pool matches for a place in the final.


2011 Women's Australian Hockey League, Competition Format
After all the round matches were complete the teams were ranked 1–8 depending on the total number of points earned in all their round matches.


2011 Women's Australian Hockey League, Competition Format
The teams ranked 1, 4, 5 & 8 went into pool A and the teams ranked 2, 3, 6 & 7 went into pool B. All previously earned points were removed with the teams in each pool playing each other once more. At the completion of the pool matches the teams in each pool were ranked again 1–4 depending on the number of points accumulated, with the top team from each pool competing in the League Final and classification matches to determine the remaining six team's final positions.


2011 Women's Australian Hockey League, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 199 goals scored in 44 matches, for an average of 4.52 goals per match.


2011 Women's Australian Open (squash)
The Women's Australian Open 2011 is the women' edition of the 2011 Australian Open, which is a tournament of the WSA World Series event Gold (Prize money : 74 000 $). The event took place in Canberra in Australia from 9 to 14 August. Nicol David won her first Australian Open trophy, beating Jenny Duncalf in the final.


2011 Women's Australian Open (squash), Prize money and ranking points
For 2011, the prize purse was $74,000. The prize money and points breakdown is as follows:


2011 Women's Basketball Invitational
The 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) was a single-elimination tournament of 16 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2011 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament or 2011 WNIT. All games are hosted by the higher seed throughout the tournament, unless the higher seed's arena is unavailable. The Championship game is hosted by the school with the higher end of the season RPI. UAB defeated Cal State Bakersfield in the inaugural championship game.


2011 Women's Basketball Invitational, West Region
#8 IPFW and #7 South Dakota hosted first round games


2011 Women's Basketball Invitational, East Region
#5 Morehead State, and #7 Central Arkansas hosted first round games#3 Elon hosted quarterfinal game#5 Manhattan hosted semifinal game


2011 Women's British Open
The 2011 Ricoh Women's British Open was held 28–31 July at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. It was the 35th Women's British Open, and the 11th as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. This was the first time for the Women's British Open at Carnoustie, which previously hosted seven Open Championships, most recently in 2007.


2011 Women's British Open
Yani Tseng became the first to successfully defend her title at the Women's British Open as a major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Brittany Lang. She became youngest player, male or female, to win five major titles.


2011 Women's British Open, Exemptions and qualifying events
The field for the tournament was 144, and golfers gained a place in three ways. Most players earned exemptions based on good past performances on the Ladies European Tour, the LPGA and in previous major championships and top-ranked players in the Women's World Golf Rankings. The rest of the field earned entry by successfully competing in qualifying tournaments open to any professional female golfer or amateur with a low handicap.


2011 Women's British Open, Exemptions and qualifying events
There were 14 exemption categories for the 2011 Women's British Open. These included:


2011 Women's British Open, Course, Set-up
The par-72 course was set by the Ladies Golf Union (LGU) at 6,490 yards (5,934 m), 931 yards (851 m) shorter than the par-71 set-up for the 2007 Open Championship.


2011 Women's British Open, Course, Set-up
The short set-up of the course was criticized by several notable golfers and golf commentators. ESPN golf commentator and former LPGA pro Jane Crafter called the LGU "out of touch" with how current women players can play. Defending champion Yani Tseng commented that the famous hole number 18 was set up so that it "put all of the bunkers out of play, put all of the burns out of play." The course groundskeeper agreed that the women had been given "a watered-down version" of Carnoustie and that he did that intentionally after receiving too much criticism for a difficult set-up for the Open Championship in 1999.


2011 Women's British Open, Round summaries, Second round
Amateurs: Kang (−3), Popov (+1), Pretswell (+2), Taylor (+4), Foster (+6), Meadow (+7).


2011 Women's County Championship
The 2011 Women's County One-Day Championship was the 15th cricket Women's County Championship season. It ran from April to September and saw 33 county teams and teams representing Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Netherlands compete in a series of divisions. Kent Women won the County Championship as winners of the top division, with Sussex finishing second. The Championship was Kent's fourth title, and their first of two titles in 2011, as they later won the 2011 Women's Twenty20 Cup.


2011 Women's County Championship, Competition format
Teams played matches within a series of divisions with the winners of the top division being crowned County Champions. Matches were played using a one day format with 50 overs per side.


2011 Women's County Championship, Competition format
The championship worked on a points system, with placings decided by average points of completed games. Due to restructuring ahead of the 2012 season, which had divisions of nine teams compared to six in 2011, there was no relegation and more teams were promoted per division. The points are awarded as follows:


2011 Women's County Championship, Competition format
Win: 10 points + bonus points. Tie:  5 points + bonus points. Loss : Bonus points. Abandoned or cancelled: Match not counted to average.


2011 Women's County Championship, Competition format
Bonus points are awarded for various batting and bowling milestones. The bonus points for each match are retained if the match is completed.


2011 Women's County Championship, Teams
The 2011 Championship was divided into five divisions: Divisions One to Four with six teams apiece and Division Five with 13 teams split across three regional groups.


2011 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier
The 2011 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a ten-team tournament held in Bangladesh in November 2011 to decide the final four qualifiers for the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup. Additionally, the top two teams, excluding Sri Lanka and West Indies, would qualify for the 2012 ICC Women's World Twenty20.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Championship II
The 2011 Women's EuroHockey Championship II was the 4th edition of the Women's EuroHockey Championship II and the first edition with the new name. It was held from 6 to 14 August 2011 in Poznan, Poland. The tournament also served as a qualifier for the 2013 EuroHockey Championship, with the finalists Scotland and Belarus qualifying.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Championship II, Format
The eight teams were split into two groups of four teams. The top two teams advanced to the semifinals to determine the winner in a knockout system. The bottom two teams played in a new group with the teams they did not play against in the group stage. The last two teams were relegated to the EuroHockey Championship III.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Championship II, Results, Fifth to eighth place classification, Pool C
The points obtained in the preliminary round against the other team are taken over.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Championship III
The 2011 Women's EuroHockey Championship III was the fourth edition of the Women's EuroHockey Championship III, the third level of the women's European field hockey championships organized by the European Hockey Federation. It was held in Vienna, Austria from 25 to 31 July 2011.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Championship III
Lithuania won its first EuroHockey Championship III title and were promoted to the 2013 EuroHockey Championship II together with the hosts Austria.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship
The 2011 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship was the 10th edition of the women's field hockey championship organised by the European Hockey Federation. It was held from 20 August to 27 August 2011 in Mönchengladbach, Germany.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship
This tournament was also a qualifier for the 2012 Olympics, with both finalists earning a spot. In the event that England played in the final, the third placed team would have qualified instead, as England cannot qualify as a nation for the olympics (being part of Great Britain).


2011 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship
The Netherlands won the title for the eighth time after defeating Germany 3–0 in the final.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship, Results, Fifth to eighth place classification
The third and fourth place team in each pool competed in a pool to determine the fifth to eighth-place winners. The last two placers will be relegated to EuroHockey Nations Trophy in 2013. Note that the match played against each other in pool A or B counts in the pool C classification.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship, Statistics, Final Standings
As per statistical convention in field hockey, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.


2011 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 78 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 3.9 goals per match.


2011 Women's European Amateur Boxing Championships
The Women’s European Boxing Championships was hosted and organised by the Dutch Boxing Association in the Netherlands in 2011. The event was held in the ‘Topsportcentrum Rotterdam’ in the Netherlands from 16 to 23 October 2011.


2011 Women's European Amateur Boxing Championships
It was the first time in the Dutch Boxing Association’s 100-year history that they hosted such an international event. The tournament was organised in association with the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC).


2011 Women's European Amateur Boxing Championships, Contestants
The organisers of the event expected to welcome between 300 and 400 women boxers, competing in 10 different weight classes.


2011 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships
The 2011 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships were held in the Spodek stadium in Katowice, Poland from June 6 to June 11. This was the 6th edition of this annual competition organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC). 84 fighters from 20 federations competed in 10 weight divisions.


2011 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships
Host country Poland were convincing victors in the overall medal table, with Turkey and England each winning two golds. Ireland's Katie Taylor won her fourth straight gold in the 60 kg division.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship
The 2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship was the 27th edition of the European Volleyball Championship, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball. It was hosted in Italy and Serbia from 23 September to 2 October 2011.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Format
The tournament was played in two different stages. In the first stage, the sixteen participants were divided in four groups of four teams each. A single round-robin format was played within each group to determine the teams group position, the three best teams of each group (total of 12 teams) progressed to the second stage, with group winners advancing to the quarterfinals while second and third placed advancing to the playoffs.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Format
The second stage of the tournament consisted of a single-elimination, with winners advancing to the next round. A playoff was played (involving group second and third places) to determine which teams joined the group winners in the quarterfinals, followed by semifinals, 3rd place match and final.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Venues
The tournament was played at four venues in four cities (two in Italy and two in Serbia). Each city hosted a group during the preliminary round. Monza and Belgrade hosted the playoffs and quarterfinals. Belgrade also concluded the championship hosting the semifinals, third place match and final.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Championship round, Semifinals
The semifinal and final matches played in Belgrade, Serbia were extremely stormy with more than five thousand Serbian audience. The semifinal match between Serbia and Turkey was fabulously breathtaking, Serbia having got to win against Turkey with a 3:2 score and qualify for the final.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Championship round, Bronze medal match
In order to get the 3rd place in the tournament Turkey and Italy came to court and both teams wanted it so much to win, but Turkey was the one getting to the bronze medal with a 3:2 win.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Championship round, Final
At the final match against Germany, Serbia was able to get the title of European Champion in front of its audience, ending the match and the tournament with a 3:2 score once more.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Final standing
1	Ana Lazarević	2	Jovana Brakočević	3	Sanja Malagurski	5	Nataša Krsmanović	6	Tijana Malešević7	Brižitka Molnar	8	Ana Antonijević	9	Jovana Vesović10	Maja Ognjenović	12	Jelena Nikolić	14	Nađa Ninković	16	Milena Rašić	18	Suzana Ćebić (L)19	Silvija Popović (L)


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship squads
This article shows all participating team squads at the 2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship, held in Italy and Serbia from 23 September to 3 October 2011.


2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship squads, Pool A, Ukraine
Severodonchanka 2011 squad, Inna Molodtsova, 2010-11 match report of Halychanka Ternopil and Volyn Lutsk


2011 Women's European Volleyball League
The 2011 Women's European Volleyball League was the third edition of the annual Women's European Volleyball League, which featured Women's national volleyball teams from twelve European countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Romania, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey. A preliminary league round was played from May 25 to July 10, and the final four tournament, which was held at Istanbul, Turkey, on 15/16 July.


2011 Women's European Volleyball League
During the league round, competing nations were drawn into two pools of four teams, and played each other in a double round-robin system, with two matches per leg in a total of six legs. Pool winners qualified for the final four round, joining the host team. If the final four host team finished first in its league round pool, the best pool runners-up qualified for the final four.


2011 Women's European Volleyball League
12 teams participated in this year's edition, which was a record field.


2011 Women's European Volleyball League, Final four
The final four will be held at Istanbul, Turkey on July 15/16, 2011.


2011 Women's European Volleyball League squads
Below there are the squads from the participating teams of the 2011 Women's European Volleyball League.


2011 Women's Football Alliance season
The 2011 Women's Football Alliance season was the third season of the Women's Football Alliance (WFA), a league of 61 teams. The regular season began on Saturday, April 2, and ended on Saturday, June 18. After the playoffs, the season ended with the WFA Championship Game on Saturday, July 30 at Pennington Field in Bedford, Texas, home of the Dallas Diamonds and the defending champions from 2010, the Lone Star Mustangs. The championship was between the National Conference champ Boston Militia and the American Conference winner San Diego Surge, who are in their first year of play, and the Militia won the WFA title with a 34–19 over the Surge. It is the team's first Women's Football Alliance championship.


2011 Women's Ford National Hockey League
The 2011 Women's Ford National Hockey League was the 13th edition of the women's field hockey tournament. The competition was held in 8 cities across New Zealand, from 30 July to 14 August.


2011 Women's Ford National Hockey League
Auckland won the fourth for the first time, defeating Central 5–2 in the final. Midlands finished in third place after winning the bronze medal match 2–1 over Northland.


2011 Women's Ford National Hockey League, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 165 goals scored in 36 matches, for an average of 4.58 goals per match.


2011 Women's Four Nations Cup
The 2011 Women's Four Nations Cup was the third Hockey Four Nations Cup, an international women's field hockey tournament, consisting of a series of test matches. It was held in Germany, from July 12 to 15, 2012, and featured four of the top nations in women's field hockey.


2011 Women's Four Nations Cup, Competition format
The tournament featured the national teams of Argentina, Australia, South Korea, and the hosts, Germany, competing in a round-robin format, with each team playing each other once. Three points will be awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss.


2011 Women's Four Nations Cup, Officials
The following umpires were appointed by the International Hockey Federation to officiate the tournament:


2011 Women's Four Nations Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 21 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 3.5 goals per match.


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Mendoza)
The 2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament was the first of two women's field hockey tournaments, consisting of a series of test matches. It was held in Mendoza, Argentina, from February 9 to 13, 2011, and featured four of the top nations in women's field hockey.


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Mendoza), Competition format
The tournament featured the national teams of Australia, Germany, the United States, and the hosts, Argentina, competing in a round-robin format, with each team playing each other once. Three points will be awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss.


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Mendoza), Officials
The following umpires were appointed by the International Hockey Federation to officiate the tournament:


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Mendoza), Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 25 goals scored in 8 matches, for an average of 3.12 goals per match.


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Rosario)
The 2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament was the second of two women's field hockey tournaments, consisting of a series of test matches. It was held in Mendoza, Argentina, from February 16 to 20, 2011, and featured four of the top nations in women's field hockey.


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Rosario), Competition format
The tournament featured the national teams of Australia, Germany, the United States, and the hosts, Argentina, competing in a round-robin format, with each team playing each other once. Three points will be awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss.


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Rosario), Officials
The following umpires were appointed by the International Hockey Federation to officiate the tournament:


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Rosario), Awards
The following awards were presented at the conclusion of the tournament:


2011 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Rosario), Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 30 goals scored in 8 matches, for an average of 3.75 goals per match.


2011 Women's Futsal World Tournament
The 2011 Women's Futsal World Tournament was held in Fortaleza, Brazil from December 5 to December 10, 2011. It was the second World Tournament held under FIFA futsal rules. The venue was Ginásio Paulo Sarasate in Fortaleza.


2011 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I
The 2011 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I was the fifth tournament of field hockey championship for women. It was held in Dublin, Ireland from June 18–26, 2011.


2011 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge II
The 2011 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge II was held from May 7–15, 2011 in Vienna, Austria. Belgium beat Italy 2–1 to win the tournament and promoted to 2012 Champions Challenge I.


2011 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy
The 2011 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy was the 19th edition of the Hockey Champions Trophy for women. It was held from 25 June to 3 July 2011 in Amstelveen, Netherlands.


2011 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy
The Netherlands won the tournament for the sixth time after defeating Argentina 3–2 in the final on a penalty shoot-out after a 3–3 draw, tying the record previously set by Australia in 2003 of six titles won. New Zealand won the third place match by defeating Korea 3–2 to claim their first ever Champions Trophy medal.


2011 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy
After the preliminaries were over, the final originally was scheduled to be played between the Netherlands and Korea, but the Argentine side protested against the second round standing in which they were ranked third behind Korea based on goals scored in that round. After a second appeal by the Argentine team, the final day schedule was changed, since the regulations stated that in case of a draw in points in the second round, the total points in the tournament should be the next tie-breaker.


2011 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy, Format
A new format was used for the 2011 tournament, with eight teams participating instead of the traditional six. All temas are split in two groups (pools A and B) and play a round robin. The top two teams advance to Pool C and play for the medals, the bottom two teams play in Pool D for fifth to eighth place. For this second round, points for the game with the advancing team from the same preliminary group are carried over and two games are played against teams from the other group. In the final classification games, the two top teams from Group C play for gold, the third and fourth team for bronze. The two top teams from Group D play for fifth and sixth place, while the third and fourth team of Group D play for seventh and eighth Place.