In the wake of the Wisconsin Senate's end-run to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights, thousands of angry protesters descended again on the state capital.
And the top labor unions are organizing state-wide protests Thursday morning, providing information on websites and social media sites such as Twitter.
State Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Wisc.) put the issue bluntly on MSNBC: "This is our Pearl Harbor of workers' rights. The governor has really been out of bounds with a sneak attack in the middle of the night without any public notice, without any input from many hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who have expressed their views. It's a sad day for Wisconsin.".
With thousands rushing to to the state capitol building and pushing through police-guarded doors, anger is running so high that AFL-CIO activists posted this advisory: "Keep it peaceful, brothers and sisters. That's who we are." The prospect of some short-lived protest strikes looms along with the fast-growing recall movement-- although an official general strike is illegal under Taft-Hartley.
The progressive-oriented Madison.com set the scene Wednesday night:
Thousands of protesters rushed to the state Capitol Wednesday night, forcing their way through doors, crawling through windows and jamming corridors, as word spread of hastily called votes on Gov. Scott Walker's controversial bill limiting collective bargaining rights for public workers.
Some union leaders interviewed at the Madison Labor Temple said the abrupt passage could lead to strikes. Officials with Madison Teachers Inc. and the Wisconsin Education Association Council urged teachers to show up to work today, despite a call for a mass demonstration this morning.
Read the full story here.
The AFL-CIO declared Wednesday night:
This will not stand. We are holding an emergency vigil at the Capitol in Madison TONIGHT and a rally there first thing in the morning.
Thousands are gathering right now to raise their voices against the great travesty that occurred tonight in the Senate. Come join us.
Please get to the capitol right now and plan to be back in the morning. Stand in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. If you can't come now, come in an hour or in two hours or at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning:
Brandon Davis, SEIU's political director, sent out an alert:
There's an emergency brewing at the Capitol.
Republican Senators just voted to strip working families in Wisconsin of their rights by gaming the system under the cover of night -- and they did it without a Democrat present.
Tomorrow morning, the State Assembly will gather and 8:00 a.m. Central to vote and we'll be coming together inside and outside the Capitol at that time. In fact, thousands of people are already there right now.
There are also a number of rallies taking place across the state at 9:00 a.m. (CT) and recall canvasses happening throughout the day.
If you're in Wisconsin, take a look at the list of events and let us know if you can attend at the link below:
http://action.seiu.org/page/s/wirecall2
Don't stop making your voice heard as we continue the struggle for worker's rights.
UPDATE: In an interview on the Ed Show on MSNBC, members of the Wisconsin 14, in exile in Illinois, called the GOP's action an "affront to democracy," vowed to challenge it in court as illegal and predicted that this latest ploy would "supercharge" recall drives against GOP legislators.
Here's a sample of their interview:Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
This article originally appeared in the labor-oriented Working In These Times blog, with coverage of Wisconsin updated regularly, including links to the most up-to-date news sources.
And the best of independent progressive coverage of this issue can be found here:
If union membership keeps up and members pay their dues, then the union leaders were right.
If people drop out of unions and keep the dues money, then Walker was right.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt got Social Security and the NLRA passed, guaranteeing that workers could organize. With the G.I. Bill after World War II, the largest middle class in the world, and a safety net for our elderly, were created.
Republicans are once again trying to destroy unions, which make up less than 15 percent of workers. Nonunion workers like the minimum wage laws, the 40-hour workweek, overtime, etc., that union workers fought and died for. Teachers, police and firefighters are now villains in many states.
With federal and state budget deficits, it’s union busting time, and the middle class is fading away. Compare the average union worker’s retirement benefits with members of Congress and the thieves on Wall Street who took more than $52 billion in bonuses last year — taxed at 15 percent — while bringing down major investment companies and banks. They go blameless, while those who serve us are demonized in our convoluted political mentality.
Mike
As a citizen of the United States I have the right to travel wherever I wish at anytime I wish. I also have the right to peacefully engage in any public forum at any time, ... day or night ... every day of my life is I so choose. You tea partiers are all about individual freedoms aren't you? Supposedly these are the freedoms of every American ... are at least for now since these universal American freedoms have not been laid waste by Wisconsin Republicans in session. I'm coming to Wisconsin and I'm going to be there right in your face.
As for "there right in your face". I would recommend keeping your actions while visiting Wisconsin legal. If not, we will happily reserve a jail cell for you as well.
go away l'il bagger.
Public workers not overcompensated; earn less than private sector, he writes
Eliminating bargaining rights contributes nothing to closing budget gap, he says
Reschovsky: Best teachers, best managers and university profs will be first to leave
"This is how it's going to happen: I as well as many others know where you and your family live, it's a matter of public records. We have all planned to assault you by arriving at your house and putting a nice little bullet in your head. However, this isn't enough. We also have decided that this may not be enough to send the message. So we have built several bombs that we have placed in various locations around the areas in which we know that you frequent…".
I sure do hear a lot of you on the other side wishing it were so, though...
Yes there are slugs I work with. Yes, there are people who should have been fired a long time ago. Yes, there are people who take advantage of the system they were given. Yes, there are clout hirings that screw most out of promotions that we rightly were more qualified for. If we retire with a minimum of 30 years of service, we will receive 60% of our final paycheck. If we retire prior to the 30 years, we lose an additional 6% of salary for every year under the 30 years. Trust me, that's significant.
I am grateful for my civil service job and am proud of the job I do.