Students and workers fight back against “Walker, Union Buster” in Wisconsin

by Samuel Sukaton, USSA Working Class Student Caucus Vice-Chair, UCLA

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, claiming budget necessity, has put forward a budget proposal which would curtail public service workers’ collective bargaining rights, cut public service workers’ take-home pay, and break unions in Wisconsin by making it a ‘right-to-work’ (for low wages) state. Students, workers, and other Wisconsin residents, recognizing the union-busting ploy for what it is, have taken to the streets this entire week, protesting this bill’s provisions. Walker suggested over the weekend that he had the National Guard ready to forestall disturbances; while it hasn’t come to that, law enforcement and firefighters (who do not stand to lose from Walker’s proposals) have come out in solidarity with other Wisconsin workers.

UW-Madison student activist Max Love said that student-labor solidarity was integral to this protest. “We know that teachers are being affected, and we want to tell the state of Wisconsin that we care about our teachers,” Love commented. But, he added, this was more than just about teachers:
“We are involving ourselves in a process meant for us, which has been hijacked by corporations and politicians who’ve forgotten that the people of this state put them in office in the first place.”

Here’s a day-by-day overview of Wisconsin’s student-worker solidarity actions throughout the week:

MONDAY: Wisconsin residents protest across the state and at the State Capitol in Madison; hundreds of students and workers sleep in the Capitol so they can provide testimony against the bill all night long. Democratic Senators do their best to get as many opponents of the bill to testify as possible.

TUESDAY: Anti-bill testimony continues; local unions provide food, coffee, water; students provide solidarity. Amendments to the budget removing the collective bargaining provisions were denied.

WEDNESDAY: The Associated Students of Madison, UW-Madison’s student government, and United Council of University of Wisconsin endorses a campus walkout to support public service workers. Hundreds of students walk out of class to join tens of thousands of protesters at the capitol.

THURSDAY: Senate Democrats left the Capitol and fled the state in a successful attempt to break quorum: Until the state senate has 20 members in session, it can’t vote on anything. President Obama called the budget proposal for what it is: an attempt to break public service union in a state that pioneered their formation. Over 25,000 protesters attended rallies at the capitol.

FRIDAY: Former US Senator and progressive advocate Russ Feingold, along with Reverend Jesse Jackson, joined over 30,000 protestors at the Capitol.

Walker’s power grab has been exposed by local progressive media: Wisconsin had a budget surplus until the end of January; in fact, without certain of Walker’s pro-business proposals, the “crisis” he claims wouldn’t even exist. Protests will continue for the foreseeable future, as Democrats have promised not to return until collective bargaining elimination is off the table.

However, as heartening as the protests may be, Wisconsin is simply ground zero for the GOP’s war on workers. Ohio’s state legislature is also considering SB5, which would similarly curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers.

Despite this, Wisconsin seems to be the epicenter for a revival in democratic values and workers’ rights. To quote Max Love a final time, “If you’re in Wisconsin, this is the epicenter of democracy. Everybody is out to show support for worker’s rights. This isn’t some hippie Madison thing – this is about the people of Wisconsin.” And, if I could add, about working people everywhere.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 18th, 2011 at 11:32 pm. It is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.