AFL-CIO press release
Brothers and sisters,
Last night in Madison, Wis., in the dead of night, Senate Republicans rammed through a bill that strips Wisconsinites of the collective bargaining rights their parents and grandparents bargained for, marched for, went on strike for and sometimes even died for.
This assault on workers' freedom will not stand.
As the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO said last night:
Scott Walker and the Republicans’ ideological war on the middle class and working families is now indisputable, and their willingness to shred 50 years of labor peace, bipartisanship and Wisconsin’s democratic process to pass a bill that 74 percent of Wisconsinites oppose is beyond reprehensible.
What we saw in the dead of night in Wisconsin wasn’t democracy. It was back-door deal-making, partisan politics taken to the limit. That isn’t worthy of America. And working Americans simply won’t stand for it. Not in Wisconsin, and not anywhere.
Brothers and sisters, it’s time to turn outrage into action.
Last night, Gov. Walker and his rubber-stamp Republican senators showed us they will do just about anything to pay back corporate donors by stripping workers of their right to bargain for good, middle-class jobs.
First, they claimed Walker’s bill was aimed at balancing Wisconsin’s budget. But that was exposed as an outright lie last night. Their true motives were exposed when they robbed hundreds of thousands of nurses, teachers, snowplow drivers and EMTs of their collective bargaining rights—without even a dime of savings to Wisconsin taxpayers. And they thumbed their noses at their state’s open meeting laws to do it.
This was the second time in a week that Republican state legislators showed they are willing to sacrifice democracy for their partisan political agenda. First it happened in Ohio, where the Senate Republican leader threw a senator off a committee to ensure the body would vote to end bargaining rights. Now it’s Wisconsin.
This morning, tens of thousands of workers are gathering at the Statehouse in Madison. Their fight is only beginning. They’re already getting organized, working tirelessly to recall the politicians who did this and win back the collective bargaining rights that were taken away in the dead of night.
It’s time for us all to follow their example in our own states. We need to give it our all and show that like the Wisconsonites who have inspired us all, we don’t give up.
We’ve never seen the incredible solidarity that we’re seeing right now, and I have never been more proud of this movement than I am today.
Last night’s travesty in Wisconsin will not stand. Today’s a new day—and we’re even stronger and more committed. It’s time for action and we are ready.
In Solidarity,
Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO
P.S. It’s time for politicians to pay attention to the people they represent. Workers in Wisconsin and in Ohio and across America have had enough. If these attacks continue in statehouses across America, we will be even stronger and bigger, with more of the public—ordinary Americans who are being attacked—joining us to balance out-of-control corporate greed.
