Labor & Employment Law

Students, Workers United in Wisconsin

By admin

Maricela Aguilar writes a first-hand account of the events in Wisconsin in this cross-post from United We Dream.

I have been to my fair share of rallies and protests. I was there for Reform Immigration For America’s (RIFA?s) March for America alongside 250,000 other comprehensive immigration reform supporters; I was there for Milwaukee?s May Day Rally in 2010, which drew more than 65,000 Wisconsinites in support of workers? and immigrant rights; I was there for Immigrant Youth Justice League?s 2010 Coming Out of the Shadows Rally, which had one of the largest turnouts for a coming out rally in the nation. But never had I experienced such a vibrant feeling of unity emanate from the entirety of a people as I have had at the rallies in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker?s Budget Repair Bill here in Wisconsin.

The mainstream media has depicted this movement as merely a workers? rights movement, but it is far greater than that. Walker?s proposed Budget Repair Bill is an all-out assault on the people of Wisconsin. It is an attack on workers? rights because it diminishes the collective bargaining rights of public employees to a disgustingly low level. It is an attack on student rights because it would lead to a significant loss of good teachers to other states or the private school system, as well as largely defund some of the largest public school systems of the state, which is where you find the majority of low-income students. It is also an attack on immigrant rights because it makes a necessary low-income program, BadgerCare, a citizen-only program, thus excluding immigrants from attaining affordable health care.

Walker?s imperial grab for power backfired. Instead of being able to swiftly pass the bill through the legislature, after all the speaker of the Assembly and the Senate majority leader are the Republican Fitzgerald brothers (so much for democracy on that front), he unleashed the power of the people. Workers, students and immigrants united and raised their voice in strong opposition to Walker?s attempt to take their rights from right under them.

The days have blurred as organizing has begun overlapping upon itself, but one moment stands out. Last Thursday, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) held a walkout. Because details for the event were available only a day or two in advance, we had a very limited amount of time to recruit YES (Youth Empowered in the Struggle) members. We still managed to get around a dozen or so of our college students there and I was given the opportunity to speak on behalf of the immigrant youth of Milwaukee. The rally was over at around one in the afternoon and the majority of the attendants began leaving, including myself. It was not until the next day that I realized that one of our YES. members and rising leader, Felisha Burgos, had organized an impromptu walkout from Rufus King High School, marched four miles to the UWM campus with police escort and all, chanted all the way there with around 60 of her fellow classmates and attended a separate event concerning the bill. That right there is the essence of YES, to empower students, to give them the courage to stand up and fight for their rights. Felisha is the embodiment of the spirit of Youth Empowered in the Struggle, of courage and determination; she not only defended her own rights as a Milwaukee Public School student, she also encouraged her fellow classmates to do the same and was able to offer them a platform in which they could do so. And to have been able to see her growth as a leader and now officially as an organizer is a pride beyond words and supports my belief that we are definitely on the right path here.

Walker doesn?t have a chance against such courage and perseverance because Felisha?s story is just one of thousands. The lower classes have always been divided over one thing or another therein lay the power of the upper class. This is no longer the case in Wisconsin because having teachers, union leaders, African Americans, Latinos, policemen and firefighters cheer us on as the immigrant youth of Milwaukee marched around Wisconsin?s Capitol last Friday shows the true collectiveness of this movement. We are one, we are Wisconsin and we refuse to allow the ?Mubarak of the Midwest? to strip us of our rights!

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 23, 2011 (boomark / email).