At this moment, as The Nation‘s intrepid political writer John Nichols is live-blogging, more than 30,000 people are rallying in Madison at the state capital in Wisconsin for the third consecutive day in solidarity with public-sector union workers under assault by Republican governor Scott Walker who has proposed to strip public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights.
To make it clear he’s serious, Gov. Walker has even threatened to call out the National Guard in an attempt to squash debate and demonize the hard-working Americans standing united in front of the state capital. This is only the beginning of the Republican attack on unions and middle class families. Similar attacks on organized labor are expected by Republican Governors in Ohio and New Jersey and some of the other 21 "trifecta" states in which both houses of the state legislature as well as the governor’s mansion are in GOP hands.
Read recent reporting by Nichols, a seventh-generation Wisconsinite, for the backstory of the Madison protests, and check out Sara Jerving’s posts detailing the central role that students have played.
Then, pledge your support for the demonstrators by joining a virtual march. The signatures will be delivered to Democratic leaders in the target states. And if you’re a Wisconsin voter you can sign this petition pledging to support a recall of any and all State Senators supporting Walker’s bill.
This about much more than unions. This is about fair-paying middle class jobs and the America we want to live in.
