A roar of protest sweeping from Wisconsin’s capital across the River Valley and all of the state is both angry and reassuring.
The anger is justified in the hearts and minds of many of us, because we are sons and daughters of Wisconsin. We know that workers’ rights laws were written in our state before they were in any other state in the nation. That is a source of pride for Wisconsin citizens, a sign that we care about each other.
The anger isn’t blind and violent. Instead, the anger is channeled into massive peaceful protests, which are educating and energizing tens of thousands of people, many of them young students.
That’s the reassuring part.
Consider the walkout last Wednesday by 170 River Valley High School students in protest of Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget repair bill,” which was written by someone yet to be determined—not Walker—to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights. Who knows better than students how life will be affected if their favorite school subjects and activities are eviscerated by a radical anti-union movement intending to spread its agenda not only in Wisconsin but across the nation? Many of the student speakers correctly pointed out that repairing the state budget isn’t at the core of the Walker bill. Its aim is to destroy the right to organize unions and collective bargaining.
The two largest public employee unions in the state have said they would accept the benefits cuts in Walker’s bill, but he persists with his union busting campaign. The non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau has identified Walker’s attack on collective bargaining as one of nine “non-fiscal policy items” in the bill, further proof that Walker’s bill is not about money.
Leaders of the student protest in Spring Green were careful to an extreme as they warned against inappropriate behavior and language, and emphasized the need for nonviolence. It was a study in peaceful protest.
Of course, there are consequences. Civil disobedience always has consequences. The students will be charged with unexcused absences from two class periods. That’s punishment suited to the “infraction.” It also follows district policy.
River Valley school officials and local authorities are to be commended for their calm presence at the rally. They stood aside and let the students express themselves.
An astounding demonstration of peaceful protest, involving many River Valley teachers, also took place last week in Madison and is likely to continue indefinitely. I observed three days of the mass protests, sometimes involving 50,000 or more people, at the capitol.
With 45 years’ experience in anti-war and civil rights movements, it’s clear to me that change occurs when many voices speak up. Last week was deafening.
And it was peaceful. Even though several thousand people were jammed elbow to elbow inside our capitol for long periods of time, the atmosphere was jubilant.
At days end, protesters cleaned up the hallways. But they didn’t leave the building. They kept watch on the legislature, making sure that Walker’s bill wouldn’t get rammed through in their absence.
I overheard a young father explaining the scene to his son, perched on his shoulders. “These people think it’s wrong to pass this law because it would mean they couldn’t talk to their bosses about how much they get paid,” the father said. I didn’t hear the child’s next question, but the forthcoming answer was, “It’s a bill. It’s called a bill.”
The involvement of young people was repeated when a River Valley student told me, “I think this is a time that will define us for generations to come.”
There were plenty of teachers at the capitol last week. There were also scores of steelworkers from LaCrosse, and firefighters from across the state and carpenters, electrical workers, painters and on and on. All the trades were there in protest.
I am well aware of anti-union sentiment, or pro-war sentiment, or anti-civil rights sentiment, because I’ve been on the receiving end of such sentiments more than a few times. But setting aside polarized opinions about unions, please realize that all working people have benefited from the labor movement of the past century. It doesn’t matter if you work in a fast food restaurant or a non-union shop, you are rightfully protected by workplace safety laws, minimum wage laws, and unemployment compensation. You can thank the labor movement for that. Assuming that your employer provides adequate breaks, sick leave, vacations, health insurance, wages, and hours on the job, you can thank the labor movement for that too, because union standards have raised the bar for treatment of workers across the non-union sector as well.
Did you know that the first workmen’s compensation law was drafted and the first industrial safety law was passed by the Wisconsin legislature in 1911, exactly 100 years ago? Child labor laws were passed and amended here in the 1920s. And the first actual unemployment compensation bill put into practice was passed in Wisconsin in 1932. That year the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was founded in Wisconsin. In 1959, Wisconsin was one of the first in the nation to recognize the rights of public workers to organize.
As the students at River Valley High School and the tens of thousands of people at the capitol repeatedly affirmed, the “budget repair bill” isn’t about money, it’s about the destruction of workers’ rights.
It’s a big bill, 144 pages. I intend to read it. I hope I get to do so before legislators, including Rep. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, might vote to undo decades of workers’ rights legislation.
On a related budgetary note, the University of Wisconsin Athletic Board last Friday approved a $5.29 million increase in the athletic department budget for next year, including an 8.1 percent increase in salaries and fringe benefits for sports department employees. I guess if our agriculture, art, and technology teachers or special education staff or janitors or social studies faculty could figure out how to get to the Rose Bowl, they might get a raise next year. But for now, fairness is just another story.
David Giffey is a WNPJ member from Spring Green.
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