Hundreds of workers turned out in
Seattle on March 10 to stand in solidarity with labor in Wisconsin,
where Republican state legislators forced through a vote to end
the right to collective bargaining for the public sector.
The protest was initiated by Social
Equality Educators, a caucus of the Seattle Education Association,
and endorsed by Seattle Building and Construction Trades Council,
U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott and other progressive organizations.
The rally was chaired by Garfield High
School teacher Jesse Hagopian, who led the crowd in chanting “Stand
up! Fight back!” Speakers included Rebecca Saldana from Rep.
McDermott’s office and Jane Cutter of the Seattle ANSWER Coalition.
Cutter announced the upcoming March 19
anti-war demonstration and encouraged workers to attend. “We are
all here because we believe that an injury to one is an injury to
all. We believe in solidarity. Does solidarity end at the state
border? No! Does it end at national borders? No—we are a global
class.
“The workers in Wisconsin were
inspired by the struggle in Egypt. We know that the bosses are trying
to make us pay for their war and their economic crisis. That is our
money, from our taxes, that is being spent on the wars. We need to
stand up and say NO! Next time someone tells you that demonstrating
doesn’t change anything, there is a short reply: Tunisia! Egypt! And
soon we will be saying, ‘Wisconsin!’”
