Wisconsin spirit catches on

AS TENS of thousands of people from around the country gathered in Madison, Wis., on March 12 to show their opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's anti-worker policies, activists organized emergency demonstration in their own cities to show solidarity with the battle in Wisconsin--and to draw the connections to the battles they are waging in their states.

In New York City, 100 people turned out on short notice to an emergency Wisconsin solidarity rally in Union Square on March 12. "We in New York City have a duty to stand with the workers of Wisconsin and elsewhere as they continue their struggle!" was the call to action issued by the New York Collective of Radical Educators.

In response to the urging from rank-and-file members, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) posted the announcement for the rally on the front page of its website.

Participants carried signs saying, "Collective bargaining is a civil right!" "Call Scott Walker! 608-266-1212" and "Stop attacking workers!" A marching band accompanied the protesters in hearty rounds of "Which Side Are You On?" and "Solidarity Forever." Chalk writing on the sidewalk read, "NYC loves labor" and "Solidarity with Wisconsin," while the crowd chanted, "What's disgusting? Union-busting!"

Many teachers were in attendance. One teacher, who said she is on the layoff list in New York despite her years of seniority, said she came to the rally in support of Wisconsin and New York teachers. "There is no power for the people, we need collective bargaining," she said.

Kathryn, a special education teacher working at M.S. 825 in Manhattan said that there's been a change in atmosphere at her school. "There's negativity between teachers, from the students. We used to be a very successful school. Now, due to cutbacks, we're understaffed, underfunded. It's totally ruining the environment of the school," she said.

If Mayor Michael Bloomberg gets his way, more than 200 schools will have closed during his tenure. His new budget calls for firing nearly 5,000 teachers. New York City public schools are cramped and underfunded, while charter schools are a top priority for this business-minded administration.

The fight by teachers in Wisconsin who are facing the looming threat of having their collective bargaining rights stripped away has galvanized teachers in New York and across the country.

An upcoming "Day of Rage" protest on March 24 hopes to combine the efforts and collective voices of workers and students across the spectrum demanding justice, jobs and adequate education funding for the people of New York.

In Portland, Ore., 300 people, most of them students, showed up to a quickly organized rally at Portland's Pioneer Square on March 11 to show their solidarity with the workers and students of Wisconsin.

The rally, which began as a call on Facebook, was organized in less than 24 hours. On Thursday night, more than 40 people attended an emergency organizing meeting called by the International Socialist Organization to respond to the passage of Walker's union-stripping bill in Wisconsin.

After listening to a live report back from a local trade unionist in Wisconsin and discussing possible long-term strategies for resisting the attacks on workers, activists broke into three working groups to organize Friday's demonstration.

On Friday, organizers converged at Portland State University at 8:30 a.m. to begin a full day of flyering, banner-making and energizing students on campus, while others held signs announcing the rally over a freeway overpass and passed out flyers to community residents.

By 2 p.m., over a hundred students had gathered at Portland State to kick off a march to Pioneer Square, and a mini-rally at the campus included students speaking out against university restructuring and tuition hikes.

Shortly after 2:30 p.m., the PSU student feeder march arrived at Pioneer Square and joined a crowd of high school students, trade unionists and antiwar activists gathered there. At the square, chants included, "Stop attacking workers' rights! Wisconsin's fight is our fight!" "Money for jobs and education, not for banks and corporations" and "Hey hey, ho ho, Hosni Walker's got to go!"

Organizers opened up a megaphone to anyone who wanted to make a speech and show their solidarity with Wisconsin. Private security guards who monitor the square immediately tried to intervene to enforce Pioneer Square's policy of requiring expensive permits to use any form of amplified sound.

This policy essentially serves to discourage grassroots protests in the square in order to give priority to corporate events. However, at this rally, our voices would not be silenced. Demonstrators immediately surrounded those speaking on the megaphone--putting distance between them and the security guards--while everyone repeatedly chanted "Let them speak!" Eventually the security guards gave up and the open mic began.

As the rally continued, students and workers went up to the megaphone and spoke about a whole range of issues--from solidarity with Wisconsin, to ending the wars, to the need to fight the cuts to Planned Parenthood, to tuition hikes and attacks on teachers.

In Seattle, when word got out on March 9 that Wisconsin Republican senators had maneuvered to separate all financial matters from the anti-union bill, and then passed the bill without the quorum requirement, activists quickly called an emergency solidarity rally for the following evening.

Less than 24 hours later, 150 people came out during rush hour to show solidarity and participate in a speak-out about what had happened in Wisconsin as well as issues facing Washington workers.

Seattle building and construction trades workers, teachers, public employees at the University of Washington, grocery, county, clerical and non-unionized workers all took to the bullhorn and spoke to a crowd that was energized and vocal despite unrelenting high-speed winds.

The sentiment was overwhelming that the Wisconsin measures were just a testing ground for not only anti-union policies, but anti-worker policies across the board, and that if we don't participate in organizing a fightback, even more than 1,900 miles away in Seattle, we would see the same policies enacted here.

Teacher Jesse Hagopian called Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire to task for committing to deep budget cuts and use fees for public services in order to deal with Washington's budget crisis. He decried cuts to public services as an answer "in a state where Washington Mutual walked away after creating a financial crisis where they collapsed the economy. Not in a state where we have Microsoft and Boeing and some of the wealthiest corporations that we have ever known. We know the money's there it's just not being spent right!"

In Washington, D.C., about 100 protesters came out on March 11 to picket Gov. Scott Walker's D.C. office in response to the passage of the anti-union bill in Wisconsin. Students, union members and Wisconsinites were all there in support.

Before forming a picket line, people came up and spoke about why they were there. Many referred to the bill in Wisconsin as being part of a much larger attack on workers' rights around the country.

People from Wisconsin shared their stories of family members being affected by this bill. James Ploeser, originally from Wisconsin, said that his grandma, a lifelong Republican couldn't vote for Walker again because, she said, "I think he is a fascist."

After a lively picket, about 30 people tried to get into the building where Walker's office is, but were denied entry. Instead, the crowd gathered around one activist who left a message on Walker's office answering machine, while the crowd chanted, "Shame! Shame!"

On March 16, leading Republicans from the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly will be attending a fundraiser sponsored by the BGR Group in Washington, D.C. Expect to see this crowd and more there, too.

In Burlington, Vt., about 100 people rallied and marched outside City Hall on March 15 in solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin.

Mari Cordes, a member of Vermont Nurses and Healthcare Workers, made it clear that the fight wasn't over, asking the crowd, "Do we need collective bargaining to have a work stoppage? Do we need a union to strike?" The crowd answered back with a resounding "No!"

Jim Fouts, a bus driver for Chittenden County Transit Authority, who are currently in contract negotiations, started the crowd marching saying, "The road to Wisconsin started a long time ago, when union leaders forgot their jobs were to make the lives of their members better, not to go golfing with the bosses."