Reclaim Wisconsin: solidarity across borders

An international delegation of trade union leaders and union journalists are in Wisconsin, USA to mark the one year anniversary of the passage of legislation stripping public service workers’ rights in this American state. Theresa Marshall reports...

March 14, 2012 · 2 min read

A year ago in Wisconsin, tens of thousands of union members and citizens joined in an awe-inspiring wave of protests against Governor Walker’s union-busting legislation aimed at public service workers.

On March 9, 2011, the State Senate passed the bill, repealing state workers’ collective bargaining rights over pensions and health care, limiting pay raises of public employees to the rate of inflation, ending automatic union dues collection by the state, and requiring public unions to recertify annually.

Since then, in a major recall mobilization, over one million signatures to recall Governor Walker were submitted on January 17, 2012. Recall elections for a number of Wisconsin lawmakers could happen in June this year.

It’s no small irony that Wisconsin was the first state in America to provide collective bargaining rights to public employees in 1959. Wisconsin affiliates have appreciated the outpouring of support from PSI affiliates around the world. The Council of Global Unions pledged unanimous support for affected workers and their communities through the “Quality Public Services-Action Now!” campaign.