Following a day of rage in which more than 10,000 protesters converged on the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker’s plans to strip public employees of their right to organize, the unrest continues:

In Madison, the Wisconsin State Journal reports, School Superintendent Dan Nerad was forced to close the schools today after 40 percent out of 2,600 members of the teachers union called in sick. The teachers’ move was spurred by Madison Teachers Inc. executive director John Matthews, who urged members to call in sick and instead attend a rally at the state Capitol.

Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, over a thousand protesters gathered outside Walker’s home, after a march ten blocks long.

Walker, who has repeatedly threatened to call out the National Guard to help implement his plans, cynically excluded law enforcement and fire fighters from his anti-union crackdown, obviously hoping to create a split between the people and the state’s instruments of power, though fire fighters had reportedly joined yesterday’s protests in force, in solidarity with their fellow workers. So far, the people have remained peaceful; it remains to be seen if the state can continue to show similar restraint.

11 replies on “Wisconsin’s Jasmine Revolution Grows. Will the Troops Back the Corrupt Regime or the People?”

  2. @1 the prison guard unions are included in Walkers attacks. Police are not. It was great to see firefighters from around the state marching in solidarity yesterday, I hope they’ll be back today. Grad students occupied the capitol all night, keeping public testimony going.

  4. @3 It will be here as well, soon enough. Wages and benefits have been forced down everywhere but public unions and Wall Street. Soon the states will be importing teachers and policemen from India and busting unions.

  5. When was the last time the National Guard was called to disperse protesters? I hope that doesn’t happen, and that the unions aren’t broken, but it’s frightening that it’s even being talked about.

  6. Maybe if Walker had elected to cut his own salary first (apparently, WI’s governor earns the 17th highest in the nation), he might have garnered a little more sympathy – after all, HE’S a public employee too, in case he’s forgotten that crucial fact.

  7. It’s interesting how the Right rails against government power and the threat it poses to citizens, and at the same time threatens citizens with military action.

  8. “So far, the people have remained peaceful; it remains to be seen if the state can continue to show similar restraint.”

    This sentence really sums up why your writing annoys me.

  10. @9 State workers in Wisconsin, on average, make 6.2% less than similarly qualified private-sector workers. This is partly a trade-off for more generous benefits. In any case, the main point of contention isn’t compensation cuts, it’s the governor’s attempt to eliminate state workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

    He could bargain in good faith for the compensation cuts, with the threat of layoffs if the unions don’t concede but the budget deficit is just a smoke screen. The Republicans want to kill the unions, period. They’re trying to consolidate power.

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