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Click above to watch video coverage of the Wisconsin labor struggle. Click the icon on the lower right corner to enlarge video. |
For an
entire week, Wisconsin workers and students have carried out escalating waves
of protest at the State Capitol in Madison. The uprising has been centered
around an occupation of the capitol building and a string of mass rallies and
marches on the capitol grounds and surrounding streets.
The
movement’s main demand is to kill the union-busting bill sprung on the state
legislature byi right-wing Gov. Scott Walker and his corporate backers. The bill
would strip teachers, nurses and other public sector employees of their
hard-won collective bargaining rights and drastically reduce their benefits.
On Feb. 19,
over 100,000 people streamed into Madison for a massive rally. This writer, a
member of the Illinois Education Association union and a Midwest organizer for
the Party for Socialism and Liberation, joined the protests this week, along
with dozens of other PSL members.
The
ongoing struggle shows that workers and students of all backgrounds have the
power to unite and fight for real change. Here are some myths we have seen debunked
by the heroic struggle in Wisconsin.
Myth: Youth and students are too distracted to care
about politics.
Truth: Youth and
students are the lifeblood of every movement and their political energy and
innovation shapes every working-class struggle.
The Facts: Students shut down nearly every
school in Madison in solidarity with the unions. For several days, thousands of
students marched from their schools to the capitol building. One 14-year-old
student said, “We walked out of our school to do the right thing—to defend our
teachers from the governor’s attacks.”
The takeover and occupation of the Wisconsin Capitol is being carried out by students,
who are chanting for hours, holding speak outs in the middle of the capitol and
helping to lead the protests. College students from around the state have used
social media to get the word out.
On Feb. 17,
when the cops tried to drag a Democratic State Senator into the Senate to ram
through the bill, hundreds of students packed the hallway and refused to move,
preventing the cops from achieving their goal.
The middle
of the capitol’s rotunda is draped with progressive, pro-union and anti-Walker
slogans, most of them written on homemade signs and banners. On Feb. 20 at 2 a.m.,
the cops came in and removed the signs and banners.
Myth: U.S. working-class consciousness and unity is
a thing of the past.
Truth: Class
consciousness is once again on the rise as a result of the capitalist economic
crisis and the capitalist class’ war on workers.
The Facts: From the signs at the mass protests
in Madison, it is easy to see that Wisconsin workers view the attack on public sector
workers as an attack on all working people.
PSL
members have talked to thousands of workers at the protests. We noticed that
most were very clear about the fact that Wall Street and the billionaires are
on the warpath against working people and that coming together to fight is the
only solution.
The PSL sign,
“Tax the rich!” is very popular at the protests. Signs and banners calling for
unity in the struggle against the bill are very common.
Myth: U.S. workers will never care about mass
political activity.
Truth: A mass struggle, like the labor
battle in Wisconsin, highlights the fact that workers can and do understand
politics and are the first to engage in mass political activity.
The Facts: Walking down State St., a busy street
that runs into the capitol, I thought the many workers gathered outside
numerous restaurants were waiting to eat. I was wrong. The outside speakers for
the restaurants were broadcasting the news. In the middle of the day, U.S.
workers were standing in the middle of the street outside the state capitol,
eagerly trying to get news about the progress of the struggle against the
anti-union bill.
Thousands
of people visited the PSL table to sign a petition to “Stop the budget cuts: tax
the rich.” Workers are eagerly grabbing all the political literature being
distributed at the protests. And the sheer volume of handmade signs at the
protests is staggering.
Myth: Some U.S. workers are not “working class”
Truth: All
people who go to work each day and get a wage for their labor are part of the
working class. The need to struggle under the capitalist system brings workers
together–at this time we can see our power as a class. Workers on the streets
in Madison are pro-union and anti-Tea Party, not anti-working class.
The
Facts: Teachers,
nurses and other public employees, representatives from every union,
non-unionized workers, some who consider themselves “middle class” are all
enthusiastically joining militant street protests occupying the state’s main
government building to defeat an attack on working people.
They are
marching for hours, chanting “Kill the bill” and singing civil rights and labor
songs together in the streets. The high-level of solidarity at the protests is
strikingly clear.
Every
sector of the working class is present in the Madison street actions, and much of
the city is with the workers. Signs in the windows of area businesses support
the workers.
Hostility
to the billionaire supported, racist Tea Party and anti-worker Fox News in
Wisconsin is extremely high. The Feb. 19 protest was fueled by news that the
Tea Party would stage a rally supporting Walker’s bill. Many signs called on
workers to reject the Tea Party.
Workers in
Ohio, who are facing-off against a similar bill, have taken action at their
state capitol in Columbus. Solidarity rallies have been held in Chicago,
Minneapolis New York and beyond.
Myth: Workers will never rise up and challenge the
rich and powerful.
Truth:
Wisconsin workers are rising up and sustaining the struggle to defeat a ruling
class campaign to bust public unions. Wider struggle against capitalist rule is
not only possible, it is inevitable.
The Facts: Each day, the Wisconsin protests
have gotten larger and more militant. On Feb. 19, the crowds from Wisconsin and
all over the Midwest flooded the capitol in a steady stream for over seven
hours. More protests are planned.
Along with
very important union organization, the Wisconsin struggle is being driven by a
genuine uprising of working people and students.
Myth: U.S. workers will never make common cause
with workers in other countries.
Truth: Common
struggle and solidarity between workers in different countries is possible
because they face similar situations in a world dominated by U.S. imperialism
and a handful of billionaires.
The Facts: A significant portion of the
handmade signs at the protests referenced the Egyptian revolution. From talking
with the students and workers on the ground, it is clear that the example of
Egypt is very much on people’s minds. It has had a material impact on the
Wisconsin struggle.
