Protests mount after Wisconsin Republicans ram through anti-worker legislation

The Wisconsin AFL-CIO called on people to come to the Capitol and said numerous protests will be held across the state Thursday.

“This will not stand. We are holding an emergency vigil at the Capitol in Madison TONIGHT and a rally there first thing in the morning,” the federation said Wednesday night in a posting on its blog.

“Thousands are gathering right now to raise their voices against the great travesty that occurred tonight in the Senate. Come join us.

“Please get to the Capitol right now and plan to be back in the morning. Stand in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. If you can\’t come now, come in an hour or in two hours or at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.

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“Tomorrow, Thursday, March 10, at 9 a.m. there will be rallies in support of worker rights across the state at the following locations: Dodge County Administration Building, Eau Claire City Hall, Veterans Park in Fond du Lac, Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, La Crosse County Courthouse, Milwaukee County Courthouse, Senator Ellis\’ District Office in Neenah, Oshkosh Opera House Square, Platteville City Hall, Monument Square in Racine, Richland County Courthouse, Ripon at 303 Blackburn St. and River Falls City Hall.”

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With their approval ratings in a free fall and Democrats standing firm, Wisconsin Senate Republicans used a hastily called conference committee Wednesday evening to strip Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to eliminate public employee collective bargaining from the budget bill.

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The committee then sent the bill immediately to the full Senate, which advanced the measure 18-1 with no debate. None of the 14 Senate Democrats was present.

The Democratic senators have been in Illinois since Feb. 17, denying a quorum to consider the budget bill. Their determination forced the Republicans to show their true intentions: to deprive hard-working men and women of the freedom to bargain collectively. Under Senate rules, Republicans did not need any Democrats to be present to pass the collective bargaining changes as a stand-alone bill because it is not fiscal in nature.

The Senate’s action may violate the state’s opening meeting law and court challenges are likely, Democratic lawmakers said.

Unions, meanwhile, plan to keep up the pressure through protests and are focusing on the recall of several Republican state senators

“I ask Wisconsin\’s educators to be at work tomorrow,” said Mary Bell, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, which represents teachers. “We will not back down…we will continue this fight.”

“Tonight, Scott Walker and his cronies in the Senate Republicans turned our proud state of Wisconsin into a banana republic,” said Marty Beil, president of the Wisconsin State Employees Union.

“The struggle is not over,” the Wisconsin AFL-CIO said. “Working people are mobilizing and working on recall efforts to change the Wisconsin state Senate, and are exploring legal challenges to the manner in which tonight’s vote was conducted.”

This article contains reports from the Wisconsin AFL-CIO and the national AFL-CIO news blog.

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