The reports below were originally posted on the website of the ANSWER Coalition.
March 1 witnessed another crucial day of militant
mass action in Midwestern states against an all-out assault on public unions.
Protesters converged on the capitals of Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana. Workers and students in these states
are fighting on the front lines of a war unleashed on working people by the
billionaires and their servants in Washington and state houses from coast to
coast.
What
happens in the Midwest battle over state budgets and who will pay for the
crisis—workers or Wall Street—will affect the lives of all working people. The
determination of the workers and students in this region-wide labor uprising
will undoubtedly help spark a new era of peoples struggle against the power of
the corporate fat cats.
ANSWER Coalition organizers participated in all
three protests and filed the following reports.
Columbus,
Ohio
 Columbus, Ohio Photo: Richard Becker |
Over 25,000 workers, students and activists
surrounded and filled the Ohio Statehouse to demand an end to Senate Bill 5,
which would ban strikes and collective bargaining for workers in Ohio. The
AFL-CIO and major unions in Ohio such as AFSCME and SEIU organized buses from
cities across the state to get workers to the Statehouse.
More than 20,000 packed the Statehouse lawn only an
hour into the demonstration. Chants of “Kill the Bill!” echoed throughout the
day. Police were initially planning on keeping the Capitol building closed, but
thousands of militant workers forced them to open the capitol.
Signs at the rally not only stated support for Ohio
workers, but also those struggling in Wisconsin and Indiana. Speakers saluted
the struggle of the Wisconsin workers in their occupation of the Capitol and
stressed the need to mobilize labor’s power.
Unions in Ohio have stated that protests will
continue until Senate Bill 5 is struck down. If it should pass, unions have
vowed to strike.
ANSWER volunteers received hundreds of signatures on
a petition demanding “Stop the Budget Cuts, Tax the Rich!”
Madison,
Wisconsin
 Madison, Wis. Photo: Ana Santoyo |
Over 5,000 workers and students came out at the
capitol of Wisconsin to continue two weeks of the largest protests in the
history of the state. They are fighting against a bill that would severely
curtail the rights of public union members. The bill would also strip health
care rights and drastically reduce benefits for state employees.
Starting Sunday, Governor Walker’s administration
and the police have illegally restricted access to the capitol building. For
over 14 days, workers and students have been sleeping in the capitol to stop
the legislation. Now, a tent city has also been set up on the capitol grounds.
All day, protesters massed at the doors of the capital chanting, “Who’s House?
Our house!” and “Let us in, Now!”
The day of protest in Madison included mass pickets,
two union rallies and a day long peoples speak out. At 4 pm, teachers and
students flooded the capitol grounds, scaling the capitol steps and pressing
the barricades to loudly oppose Governor Walker as he delivered yet another arrogant
speech defending his pro-billionaire, anti-worker bill.
Contingents from many private sector unions and
workers from all over Wisconsin and the Midwest continue to support the labor
and student uprising in Madison. The Madison area labor council has voted to
prepare for a general strike should the bill pass.
Indianapolis,
Indiana
 Indianapolis, Ind. Photo: Heather Benno |
In Indianapolis, Indiana about 500
workers and families continued rallies in the capitol building against separate
bills that would end collective bargaining and attack public worker salaries
and benefits. Rallies took place throughout the day, with unions bussing
members and friends in from all over the state.
“This is our house!” demanded
protesters, rallying in the capitol rotunda. Many of the attendees were
returning after having attended protests through last week and the weekend.
Lindsay, a 24 year-old mother of three, who is a member of
Laborers Local 120 said that she was attending the rally because she wants to
defend workers like herself from anti-union attacks: “These politicians want to
take our benefits, our pensions, and cut our pay in half… we are still
fighting. We want to work; we want to make our own way. But if I get paid less,
I will have to go on the system. I would probably lose my house. Ninety percent
of us would probably lose our homes.”
