Labor & Employment Law

More from Saturday?s Nationwide Rallies

By Donna Jablonski

Hundreds in Nashville, San Diego and Charlottesville, W.V.; more than 3,000 in Trenton, N.J.; 3,500 in Olympia, Wash. That?s what democracy looked like yesterday from Maine to Hawaii, as America?s workers came together to protest attacks on good, middle-class jobs and collective bargaining rights by Republican governors and legislators in Wisconsin and other states. 

AFL-CIO Now followed the massive rallies at the Wisconsin state capitol and elsewhere yesterday. Here are a few more updates:

Indiana: From the Indiana State AFL-CIO: Over the past week, events at the Indiana Statehouse have been moving at a mile a minute.

Hoosiers from across the state have been mobilizing to fight against the anti-worker agenda being pushed in the General Assembly. More than 25,000 working men and women rallied at the Indiana Statehouse, voicing their opposition to legislation that seeks to limit collective bargaining, lower wages and weaken the voice of workers in their workplace?.Over the week, our rallies only grew in size, reaching up to 10,000 people?.As a signal that our voices are being heard, the House Democratic Caucus walked out of the statehouse, refusing to allow the attacks on working families to continue. They have said they will not return to the statehouse until the anti-family agenda has been stopped. This led to the defeat of three anti-worker bills (HB 1468, SB 333 and SB 273), which included attacks on collective bargaining and project labor agreements, along with the falsely labeled “right to work” legislation.

To show their support for the representatives standing up for them, a group of people in South Bend decided to shovel the sidewalks and driveways of the representatives currently in Illinois.

To keep watch over the corporate and special interests, working men and women have posted vigil over the statehouse. At the main entrance, they will be camping out all weekend.

Washington, D.C.: From Chris Garlock of the Metro Washington AFL-CIO: The crowd at Dupont Circle seemed to materialize out of thin air, swelling from a handful to hundreds in just a few minutes at noon yesterday. Chanting “This is what democracy looks like,” nearly 1,000?many wearing Wisconsin’s red and black colors?had gathered around the fountain by the time the rally?part of a 50-state mobilization in state capitals across the nation?ended an hour later. Speaker after speaker linked the battle for bargaining rights by Wisconsin’s public workers to struggles by working people across the country.

“Today the attack is on public-sector workers, yesterday it was industrial unions and tomorrow it’s all of us,” said US Action’s Jeff Blum. “They say take back, we say fight back!” chanted the crowd. ?We?ve got to save the American dream,? said University of Maryland student Jesse Zarley, just back from a visit to Madison, ?They can?t deny us our rights.? An impromptu glee club led the crowd in a shaky but enthusiastic rendition of Wisconsin?s fight song and former White House Special Advisor Van Jones wrapped up the rally with a promise that ?the nightmare is coming to an end and the dream is being reborn. We?re not going to let the hope die on our watch, that?s not going to happen. The good people of Wisconsin could have laid down, but instead, when it was darkest, the people stood together. When you have a dream and someone to stand next to you, nothing can defeat you.?

Maryland:  From Adam Wright: As the fight against union-busting continues to swell across America, hundreds of workers galvanized support from local communities as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder outside Maryland?s state capitol at noon today chanting, ?Maryland to Wisconsin, we are one!? and ?This is what democracy looks like!?

?We are all with Wisconsin today,? said John Rickard, an Ironworker from Baltimore. ?We?re here to build a stronger America. Without the collective bargaining and without our voice to discuss our lives, our futures, our children?s futures, we don?t have a voice. And if they kill our voice, they kill us!?

U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards said that she was more than proud to stand in solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin?whose collective bargaining rights are under attack by Gov. Scott Walker?saying, ?Public and private sector workers know that there has been a real assault on American workers ? not just now but for the last two decades.? She added, ?The American worker has had to sacrifice wages and benefits while jobs go off our shores. Meanwhile, the wealthiest 2 percent just keep getting wealthier. This is a real fight for workers in Wisconsin, and its a fight and struggle for workers all across this country?.We?re standing for all working people who deserve decent wages, a decent workplace and they deserve the ability to bargain collectively for their rights. It is as fundamental a freedom as any freedoms we know.?

New York: From Amy Desjardins: We had about 1,000 people today in Albany at the state capitol (see news clips here and here), 300 people in Buffalo, 250 at City Hall in Plattsburgh and 1,000 in New York city (see clip).

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 27, 2011 (boomark / email).