In Wisconsin, a Repeat of Revolutionary War History?

Berry Craig is a professor of history at the West Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah, a member of AFT Local 6010 and the author of "True Tales of Old-Time Kentucky Politics: Bombast, Bourbon & Burgoo" and "Hidden History of Kentucky in the Civil War."


by Berry Craig, Feb 28, 2011

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker reminds me of old Lord North. OK, I’m a history teacher.

North was the Revolutionary War-era British prime minister who wanted to bust the American colonies. Walker is the Wisconsin governor who wants to bust public employee unions in the Dairy State.

•North was an uber-conservative. So is Walker.
•North’s strategy was divide and conquer. I suspect Walker’s is, too.
•It backfired on North. It may boomerang on Walker.

Anyway, after the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773, North got Parliament to crack down on Massachusetts in part by closing the port of Boston until the tea the local patriots dumped in the harbor was paid for.

North figured other colonies would let Massachusetts suffer alone. After all, he reasoned, they weren’t being punished.

But the other colonies rallied to beleaguered Massachusetts. We know the rest of the story.

Walker Orders Capitol Cleared

by Donna Jablonski, Feb 27, 2011

Continuing his unprecedented power grab, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ordered the state capitol to be cleared at 4 p.m. local time Sunday, closing the building to Wisconsinites protesting his plan to gut the right to bargain for good jobs. Now he’s violating their freedom of assembly, too. Dozens of ministers, rabbis and priests joined workers and students from across the state, risking arrest to protest the closing of the capitol to the public.

Wisconsinites from all walks of life—nurses, firefighters, snowplow drivers, police officers, students, teachers, and others—have been in the capitol building peacefully for 14 days. During that time, they set up an elaborate community called “Capitol City” to keep the capitol building clean, protesters safe and fed and, most importantly, to keep up pressure on Walker to come to the table and open up a dialogue to get Wisconsin moving forward again.

Trumka: ‘This Is Not About a Budget Crisis’

by Donna Jablonski, Feb 27, 2011

“No person should have to face the loss of their rights or the loss of their jobs,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today on NBC’s Meet the Press. His remarks came in response to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) threat to begin laying off public employees if he doesn’t get his way on a sham budget bill that would strip away collective bargaining rights.

Governors with state budget problems who sit down and bargain with public employees can solve problems, Trumka said, but Walker’s attack is not about budgets. Public workers have agreed to fiscal concessions Walker’s budget bill seeks, but in his drive to kill bargaining rights Walker has refused.

Assaults on Public Employees Deal a Sharp Blow to Blacks

Steven Pitts

by James Parks, Feb 27, 2011

Assaults on public employees’ right to bargain for a better life hurt all working people. But blacks are being hit especially hard. Black unemployment was 15.7 percent in January, compared with a national rate of 9 percent. Calls to slash the freedom of public employees could hit black job seekers especially hard because so many blacks are public employees.

In a Point of View column on the AFL-CIO website, Steven Pitts, a labor policy specialist at the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Berkeley, says these attacks are already dealing a sharp blow to the black middle class.

Amity Shlaes's Forgotten History: When Unions Go Bust, We All Do

Lynn Parramore.
Editor of New Deal 2.0; Co-founder of Recessionwire
Posted: February 25, 2011 11:10 AM

For years, American workers' wages have stagnated even as they produced more. Since 2008, they have been socked with staggering new bills for bank bailouts and hammered by a Great Recession brought on by the very same banks. Now public sector workers are confronted by a new crop of Republican governors who want to put an end to unions. Union workers in Wisconsin have already conceded all of Governor Walker's draconian demands. But they want to hold on to their right to bargain so that they won't be at the mercy of the whims of political appointees or rogue school boards. Tens of thousands have swarmed Madison to show their support for the working people of Wisconsin.

More than 100,000 Rally in Wisconsin

by Tula Connell, Feb 26, 2011

This is a crosspost from the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.

On a snowy Wisconsin Saturday over 100,000 union members, working families, community members, faith leaders, activist groups and concerned citizens gathered in Madison to tell Gov. Walker to stop the attacks on the middle class and kill the bill.

Despite the weather today’s rally was the biggest in the thirteen days of protests. The people of Wisconsin will continue to fight for their rights. It is time for our elected officials to show leadership, come to the table and move Wisconsin forward.

Wisconsin’s teachers, nurses, snow plow drivers, and other public employees have agreed to Walker’s pension and health care concessions, which he said would solve the budget challenge. The Governor’s continued attacks on our state’s working families harm us all. It is now up to the Governor to be reasonable and listen to his constituents.

The whole nation has taken notice of what we are doing in Wisconsin. Today solidarity rallies were held in all fifty states, as America stands with Wisconsin.

What’s happened in our state has made the whole labor movement stronger. None of this would have been possible without the support, dedication and solidarity of both union members and non-union members who understand more than they have in a long time just how much we’re all in this together.

For photos of past rallies and select solidarity actins visit the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO flickr page. Be sure to “like” us on Face Book and follow us on twitter so you can be up-to-date as we continue the fight for worker fights

Follow Solidarity Rallies with Public Employees Here and Take Action

by Tula Connell, Feb 26, 2011

Dozens—even hundreds—of rallies are taking place across the nation today as people show their solidarity with embattled public employees in Wisconsin, Ohio and all states where governors and legislatures are trying to slash the right to bargain for good middle-class jobs. Here’s how you can join them.

•Follow the action via our live Twitter feed here, as people around the country live-tweet from rallies and events via the hashtag, #WeAreWI.
•Watch as MoveOn.org live webstreams from rallies around the country. Click here to watch.
•Sign the petition telling Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) to stop attacking workers and the American Dream. Sign here.
•Write a message of solidarity to workers at the “We Are One” Facebook page.
•Add ”We Are One” Facebook and Twitter avatars to show your solidarity with state workers. Click here for icons.

NBA Union Backs Wisconsin Public Employees

by Tula Connell, Feb 25, 2011

The National Basketball Association’s Player’s Association (NBAPA) is backing Wisconsin public employees who are fighting for their right to bargain for good middle-class jobs. NBAPA Executive Director Billy Hunter denounced last night’s vote in the state assembly to take away collective bargainig rights. This from the Nation:

Last night’s vote by the Wisconsin Assembly was an attempt to undermine organized labor and the men and women across the country who depend on their unions for a voice in the workplace. The NBPA proudly supports our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and their stand for unequivocal collective bargaining rights.

4,000 in New Jersey Show Support for Wisconsin Public Employees

by John Goltz, Feb 26, 2011

This is a crosspost from the New Jersey State AFL-CIO.

The unity rally at the State House was a tremendous success, and you made it happen. Union members from across the state and nation, from all sectors of our labor movement, joined with our community partners and stood together – over 4,000 strong – to show solidarity for the Wisconsin workers. (CLICK HERE for photos of the rally and to see solidarity in action.)

Everyone who believes in solidarity and knows what’s at risk for the middle class was there. Although the rain started falling, a little downpour was not cause for hesitation; it simply meant that we were more determined than ever to stand together. Our signs were held higher, and a swell of umbrellas joined the concert of colors which swept across the crowd. Standing shoulder to shoulder at the rally were bakery workers and iron workers, teachers and laborers, nurses and electricians, firefighters and plumbers, painters and social workers, carpenters and grocery workers, teamsters and bus drivers, secretaries and steelworkers, professors and sheet metal workers, police officers and plasterers, toll collectors, and asbestos workers, a wide range of state workers, and the list goes on.

Solis: Govs. in Wis. and Ohio Want Workers to Give Up Their American Rights

by Tula Connell, Feb 26, 2011

The nation’s governors are meeting right now in Washington, D.C., for their annual conference. Well, not all of them. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is a no-show, preferring to make the rounds on the weekend television interview programs to explain away why he wants to take away the freedom of public employees to bargain for good middle-class jobs.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) also is meeting this weekend. Here are excerpts from the statement Labor Secretary Hilda Solis made this morning when meeting with the DNC. Walker needs to read these remarks. And so does Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who’s right on the heels of Walker in his attacks on nurses, teachers and EMTs.