Posted February 20, 2011
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Wisconsin! in one week, tens of thousands of workers and their families have made history. In the face of the most aggressive anti-worker bill in modern history, teachers, janitors, clerks, plumbers, steelworkers, teamsters and many more have stood together above party lines and pushed union leaders and politicians where they weren’t willing to go. Rank-and-file workers, students and grassroots activists have led the way and the establishment has only moved because we fought to get here. With a vote on the bill coming soon, we have to stick to our guns and keep our eyes on the prize!
The budget crisis is a fraud. As the Cap Times points out, Walker took a $121.4 million surplus and turned it into a deficit with “$140 million in new spending for special-interest groups in January. If the Legislature were simply to rescind Walker’s new spending schemes the ‘crisis’ would not exist.”
We know that when cities and states come up short its because Wall Street banks stole our money, we’re in two trillion-dollar wars and because the wealthy don’t pay their share. Two-thirds of Wisconsin corporations pay zero taxes!
No concessions! Public workers didn’t create this crisis and we shouldn’t pay for it. It’s the public sector now and the private sector next. Clearly, Walker and the Legislature are in the wrong here and public workers don’t need to take yet another pay cut so we can get screwed a little less. We have the power to put this down without ceding any ground.
Kill the bill! This bill is a union-buster, but its more than that. The bill attacks immigrants, healthcare and public services, which affects union and non-union workers alike. Stand together in solidarity: you for me and me for you.
The whole world is watching and we know that what happens here will happen across the United States. For ourselves and each other we need to stay strong and be honest about what we want:
KILL THE BILL!