(The following appeared on the Detroit Free Press website on February 21, 2011. Paul Aird is Legislative Representative of BLET Division 173 in Fon du Lac, Wisc.)
MADISON, Wis. — Thousands of people descended on the Wisconsin state chant and sing, hoist signs and denounce Gov. Scott Walker for what they view as a direct assault on organized labor.
The union supporters withstood an ice-glazing storm that made walking treacherous and temperatures in the mid-20s that had them gladly jumping up and down during the musical portion of the demonstration.
“What’s disgusting? Union busting,” was the preferred chant of the day.
It was the eighth straight day of protests at the Capitol as state government workers fight Walker’s proposal to drastically curtail the collective bargaining rights of the state’s union work force. Unions have agreed to the benefit and pension concessions demanded by Walker, but the limits on collective bargainning, a right won by Wisconsin workers in 1959, have sparked a movement that has attracted outrage in the state and growing national attention.
“This changed from budget cuts to flat out union busting,” said Paul Aird, of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen in Fond du Lac.
The full story appears on the Detroit Free Press website.