On, Wisconsin: A Labor Notes Special Report

[Omaha Steve]

All the stories below at this link: http://labornotes.org/wisconsin

On, Wisconsin: A Labor Notes Special Report

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Wisconsin Reacts as Anti-Union Bill Is Rubber-Stamped

Unfazed by the rebellion that has shaken their state since February, Republican legislators in Wisconsin called an “extraordinary session” to push through every aspect of the right-wing agenda they can lay a pen to.
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Wisconsin Protesters Look to Escalate

More than a thousand rallied in Madison yesterday to relight and escalate protests against Governor Scott Walker and the state’s continued attacks on Wisconsin workers.
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Judge Throws Out Wisconsin Anti-Union Law

A Wisconsin judge ruled today that the infamous “budget repair” bill that would undermine public employee unions in the state was passed illegally. State senate Republicans pushed the bill through March 9 without advance public notice, she said.
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The Mood in Wisconsin: Shaken, Angry, but Proud

Wisconsin public sector unionists face a sobering situation after weeks of unprecedented activism—for many, no contracts. Yet their mood is proud and angry. They're acutely aware how their struggle has inspired others.
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Wisconsin Voters Rebuke Governor

Wisconsin labor put its candidate, Joanne Kloppenburg, on the state Supreme Court in statewide voting Tuesday, beating David Prosser, a Republican supporter of the governor, by just 204 votes. The upset was a remarkable repudiation of Governor Scott Walker’s attack on workers’ standard of living, though it will be challenged with a recount.
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What’s Next for Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Republicans copped to the fact this week that their real goal was smashing unions, not closing the state’s budget gap. For the rest of the labor movement, it’s a sign of things to come. What's the road map to win round two?
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Judge Blocks Wisconsin Law as Unions Scramble to Beat Bargaining Deadline

A judge issued a temporary restraining order today to block publication of Governor Scott Walker’s anti-collective bargaining law. What does the bill contain, and what would it mean for public workers' current contracts?
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Wisconsin: What We're Learning

The revolt in Wisconsin is the most impressive response of American workers to the employer offensive since it began 31 years ago—remarkable for its numbers, for its sustained nature, for the labor-community-student coalition that spontaneously arose.
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Capitol Square Remains Packed as Protests Continue

The Capitol Square in Madison is again packed with union members of every stripe, enraged by the surprise passage of a bill to gut public employee unions. A hundred were dragged from a sit-in inside the Capitol.
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Republicans Pass Anti-Union Bill

Stunned and outraged, thousands of Wisconsinites forced their way into the Capitol tonight after Republicans suddenly passed their bill attacking unions, without Democrats.
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How Can States Raise Revenue? Hint: Not from Us.

The traditional union approach to budget politics is to accept the limits of what’s possible and push for the best deal within those fiscal constraints. Some unions are looking beyond “stop the cuts,” and showing how to fund services.
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No Money Left? You’re Looking in the Wrong Places.

Governors cry, “There’s just no money.” But some people have plenty, while taxes on corporations and the rich have fallen for decades. Fair taxes could stop the financial hemorrhaging and make up all the deficits.
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A General Strike in the Heartland?

As the fight for basic union rights escalated in Wisconsin, the Madison-based South Central Federation of Labor endorsed the idea of a general strike if Governor Walker’s union-busting bill passed.
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Take My Concessions — Please

Were the leaders of the Wisconsin state employees and teachers unions wise to announce, as soon as Governor Scott Walker introduced his “budget repair,” that they were happy to take concessions on benefits, as long as they could keep the right to bargain?
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No Concessions Protest Jazzes Up Madison

Wisconsin showed its lively protest colors with 7,000 protesters joining a jazz funeral march. They challenged the governor's anti-union measures and service cuts, and also concessions offered by public sector union leaders.
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Collective Bargaining Rights: A Money Issue

State legislators aren’t going after collective bargaining rights because they hate working people. ... No, they want to end bargaining rights for public employees in order to save money. They want to cut state budgets and lower taxes for corporations and the rich—in other words, to take money from working people’s pockets and give it to the wealthy.
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Recall of Wisconsin Senators Bringing Out Big Numbers

Wisconsin Republicans will start feeling nervous soon because of people like Karl Gartung, a Teamster at UPS cartage services in Milwaukee who's been out collecting signatures to recall his state senator.
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Madison, Columbus, Indianapolis: Pressure Mounts on Legislators

Unionists in Ohio and Indiana are keeping up remarkable pressure on their legislatures with repeat crowds of thousands, while in Wisconsin, unionists fight for their right to be inside the Capitol.
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Wisconsin Spirit Sweeps Across the Midwest

The spirit of Wisconsin is inspiring union members in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan to jam capitol buildings by the tens of thousands to fight a raft of union-busting bills in their states.
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Full-Bore Assault in the Midwest

The Midwest has become the flashpoint, as unions and their allies fight a raft of union-busting bills and ballot measures that look to cripple unions and scale back workers’ rights. Here’s a round-up of what’s at stake.

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From California, and into Wisconsin's Friendly Roar

The wave of protest cresting in Madison is amazing: students, workers, seniors, everyone is coming together in peaceful but unyielding opposition to Governor Scott Walker’s attack on democracy. Our contingent from the LA County Fed arrived to find the self-organized, old-fashioned Tom Paine America. It ain’t dead yet.
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Wisconsin Diary: ‘A Fantastic Tale for a Winter’s Night’

When the workers in Wisconsin rose up, I was as surprised as everyone else. I did not see this coming. I doubted we were capable of it. Now I know. Every evening is a winter carnival, every noon a “power hour.” ... One day it’s the building trades, another the Teamsters or the Letter Carriers. First the teachers raised the alarm, then we were all sleeping in the Capitol in turns. Finally the police joined the sleep-in.
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Madison Protesters Find Religion, Solidarity, and Free Pizza

The spirit of the activists occupying the Capitol in Madison hasn’t changed. The movement hasn’t retreated in the slightest. As every day brings new busloads of unionists and supporters, the activists are re-energized.
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Wisconsin Dems Take a Hike as Protests Swell

The last the demonstrators in the Wisconsin Capitol heard, the 14 Democratic senators have left the state, leaving the Senate one vote shy of a quorum and unable to consider Governor Scott Walker’s bill to strip us of our bargaining rights.
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Wisconsin: ‘As Long As It Takes’

Teachers’ unions have announced a return to work in Wisconsin, but the protests will not let up. Meanwhile, some union leaders have said they will accept the governor’s economic takeaways. Rank and filers say they've already given too much.
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Wisconsin Labor Jams Capitol To Resist Governor’s Attacks

Wisconsin’s Republican governor inadvertently issued a wake-up call to the state’s labor movement by pushing legislation that would crush public employee unions. Wisconsin unions and allies quickly rallied, flooding the Capitol.

[femmocrat]

1. It amazes me how strong the protests have been over all these months.

And the turn-out for those dem. primaries was just amazing. Too bad we can't harness and sustain that kind of energy in some of the other states. There must be something very special about Wisconsonites!