Initiatives for Democratic Change

February 19, Madison, Wisconsin: tens of thousands have demonstrated in the largest demonstrations in years against budget cuts and for union rights. An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people attended the February 19 march and rally.

The fight to defend union rights is a fight to defend democracy. We need more democratic rights in our workplaces and a much more democratic political system.

Madison, Wisconsin, February 17: Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is one of many Republican governors who has set out to destroy collective bargaining rights for state employees. Wisconsin was the first state, in 1959, to grant public employees these rights, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents millions of public employees nationwide, was founded in Wisconsin.

“Egypt got it right”: Pro-democracy demonstrators in Wisconsin were inspired by the protests in Egypt, particularly by the occupation of public space (in Egypt, Tahrir Square in Cairo; in Madison, the Capitol Building) and a determination not to give in until you get what you want.

A nurse speaks during the massive February 26 rally in Madison, saying, contrary to Governor Walker’s slur that outside agitators are behind the protest, that she was born in Wisconsin and lives and works and pays taxes there.

An estimated 100,000 people rallied in a light snowstorm in Madison on February 26, the largest protest so far

Good strategy begins with a decision to fight for what we want and need. The people of Wisconsin have shown what one state can accomplish to change the sense of progressive possibilities in this country—your state could be next.

If progressive organizations unite to create a National Referendum to Save the American Dream, we can move from hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating to tens of millions of people voting over the next year in states all over this country. Such a referendum will help make it possible to multiply the impact of Wisconsin 10-20 times—in the fifteen Democratic-controlled states, and through democratic insurgencies in Republican-controlled states beyond Wisconsin.

The most powerful way we can defend democracy is to use it not only in Republican states where unions and budgets are under attack but in Democratic states to get popular support for solutions to the economic and budget crises.

Pro-democracy demonstrators in the Capitol Building express their anger and determination on March 10 as the state Senate votes to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights. Petitioning to recall state senators began the following week.
 

Representative Donna Seidel (center) and other Democratic legislators thank a crowd of supporters after Republicans in the state Senate vote to end public employee union rights in Wisconsin after more than 50 years.
 

Pro-democracy demonstrator carries a sign that exposes the hypocrisy of Republicans in Wisconsin who maintained that ending collective bargaining rights for public employees was necessary to force pay concessions in order to balance the budget. The Republican leader of the state Senate acknowledged that it was part of a nationwide coordinated Republican campaign to weaken unions and thus make it easier to elect Republicans and defeat President Obama in 2012.

Supporters greet one of the 14 Democratic state senators who left the state in a successful effort to slow down passage of the anti-union bill, thus allowing a massive movement to develop in Wisconsin. Although defeated on the legislation, the alliance of the movement with Democratic legislators has changed the politics of Wisconsin and political possibilities in the rest of the country.

A Progressive Movement that Inspires Strong Action by Democratic Elected Officials Is a Movement That Can Win

When unions and progressive organizations mobilize to defend people’s rights, we can inspire Democratic elected officials to stand with us. Wisconsin shows what’s possible when a vibrant social movement is backed with the support of Democratic legislators.

Although Republicans were ultimately able to pass legislation to deny collective bargaining rights to public employees, the bill was delayed when 14 Democratic state senators left Wisconsin, giving time to build a powerful movement and for public opinion to turn around. In August, progressives in Wisconsin successfully recalled two Republican state senators, putting them close to being able to defeat many Republican attacks. However, they needed to knock out three Republicans in order to take control of the state Senate. What’s missing so far, however, not only in Wisconsin, but throughout the country, is giving people a vote, a direct say, to reject the corporate and Republican agendas, and more importantly, to vote for jobs, economic recovery, and to defend democracy, including union rights. This can be done in Democratic-controlled cities and counties in Wisconsin and other Republican states.

Democrats control governments in states, counties, and cities with more than 40 percent of the U.S. population. These Democratic governments can give tens of millions of people a vote in December and January special elections on advisory ballot measures for real solutions to the problems of this country.

Democratic elected officials have no excuse not to put these progressive solutions on the ballot, if they are legally allowed to do so. All they need to do is to vote to give their constituents a vote to change this country. Unlike the state senators in Wisconsin, they do not have to leave the state to take strong action; they will not be threatened with fines and arrest for standing up for their constituents. All it will take is hundreds of Democratic state legislators in 15 states saying “Yes” in votes to give tens of millions of people a vote.

Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke February 17 at the Wisconsin Capitol Building, which has been occupied continuously since February 14, including a sleep-in at night. He compared the struggle to defend union rights to the civil rights movement.

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka speaks to demonstrators on February 17. Trumka characterized the Wisconsin fight as a defining moment for the labor movement.

The spirit of solidarity: Ian’s Pizza in Madison delivered free pizza to protestors. People in 38 states and 14 foreign countries, including Egypt, called in credit card orders to feed the demonstrators.

Inspired by Wisconsin, on February 21 thousands of union members and supporters protested in the Capitol Building in Indianapolis against a Republican proposal to make Indiana a “right to work” state. Democratic representatives, inspired by the Wisconsin state senators, had left the state, making it impossible for the legislature to conduct its business. This forced Republicans to drop this anti-union bill for the time being.

The Most Powerful Form of Solidarity
Is to Give Tens of Millions of People a Vote
for Progressive Solutions

In a newspaper op-ed, “Assault on Unions Is an Attack on Basic Civil Rights” (February 22, 2011), Jesse Jackson called the protests in Madison “this generation's Selma, the epicenter for the modern battle for basic human rights.” A brutal attack on civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, “touched the conscience of the nation.” Two days later, President Lyndon Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law five months later, and gave millions of African-Americans voting rights which they had been denied in Southern states for over eighty years.

“The right to organize, to bargain collectively, and to strike are basic human rights,” Jackson continued. “With the U.S. suffering more extreme inequality than Egypt, and the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United giving corporations and billionaires a free pass to distort our elections, unions are virtually the only counter that workers have. That's why . . . every citizen has a stake in their survival. Madison, like Selma, is the epicenter of the battle for America's democracy.”

If we act nationally, the epicenter of the battle for American democracy can be more than Madison, and more than what the people of Wisconsin have so courageously started. It can be wherever the progressive movement and Democratic elected officials stand and fight, and reach out to the majority of Americans and give them a vote for jobs, solutions to the economic crisis, and to defend unions and our democratic rights.

In its call supporting the February 26 day of solidarity with Wisconsin workers, the AFL-CIO wrote:

“For too long, CEOs and the politicians whose campaigns they financed have dominated the debate over the economy. But this time, they’ve gone too far. America is listening—and Saturday [February 26] we’ll make our voices heard for good, middle-class jobs and working families who need them. . . . It’s up to us to . . . make sure the amazing energy in Wisconsin spreads to the rest of the country, so the politicians who claim we can cut our way to prosperity don’t win the day.”

The CEO-backed attacks on workers aren’t limited to Wisconsin—they’re happening in at least a dozen states. And in Washington, Republican deficit hypocrites are threatening to shut the government down . . . unless Democrats agree to massive cuts to everything from job safety to education and food aid for hungry children. . . .

We have a real chance to shift our national debate and make the voices of working families heard. Wisconsin workers are putting it on the line for all of us—it’s time to join them.”

With 16 million members, unions are the largest organized progressive force in the country. They have the capacity to convince Democratic elected officials to give tens of millions of Americans a vote for real solutions. The entire progressive movement must act not only to defend our country from corporate and Republican attack, but act proactively and decisively to build the popular support needed to solve the crises we face.

The purpose of the Republican agenda is to prevent any solutions, to get working people fighting each other, and to divert attention from Wall Street and the big corporations that caused this crisis and benefit from it. Only when we begin to mobilize around the country where we are strong—in Democratic states, counties, and cities—to tax the rich, to help the majority suffering in the economic crisis, and to expand democratic participation will we be able to push back the Republicans decisively.

Only with your help will a national referendum happen:

Teachers have been central to the protests in Madison, which is a fight to preserve not only union rights but to preserve public education. Under the Republican budget, schools are expected to lose nearly $500 annually per student. Protests against Walker’s attacks started with a demonstration by unionized teaching assistants at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

High school students in Madison, Wisconsin, demonstrate February 17 against attacks on teachers and on public education by the Republican governor. High school and college students are organizing around the country against budget cuts.

A Wisconsin teacher and her 11-year-old daughter demonstrate inside the Capitol Building in Madison.

Students demonstrate at a Madison high school. High school and college students have been key participants in the protests. As one picket sign summed it up, “Attacking Teachers Attacks My Future.”

Governor Scott Walker, on the right, and his Tea Party supporters, who were outnumbered 50-1 by demonstrators for union rights.

Unions are planning to recall Governor Scott Walker from office, but they cannot do so until 2012.

On February 19, protesters against Walker’s budget outnumbered Tea Party Republicans (at left) demonstrating for his attacks on unions by 35-1. Republicans argue that the majority voted on November 2, 2010, for slashing budgets for social services and to attack union rights. But neither in Wisconsin nor in any state in the country did the Republicans put these reactionary policies on the ballot. The public is opposed to them.

Governor Walker is attacking both public schools and collective bargaining rights for public employees. Teachers are the best organized workforce in the country; 38 percent of teachers are members of unions. By weakening unions, Republicans hope they can more easily cut back public education and win the 2012 elections.

The Referendum Strategy Can Help the People of Wisconsin Win

The Republican speaker of the Assembly in Wisconsin has admitted that the purpose of eliminating collective bargaining rights, and defunding unions, is to make it easier to defeat President Obama in 2012. It’s not going to work. The referendum strategy can help the people of Wisconsin win their fight against anti-union legislation and budget cuts. Wisconsin can become a model for other states. Here’s how.

Progressives in Wisconsin are considering a recall campaign next year against Governor Scott Walker. We can add to the power of this recall. There is an easy way for hundreds of thousands of people in Wisconsin to vote directly on the issues involved in the spring protests.

Wisconsin is one of a handful of states that have a history of using advisory votes to address national issues, which is exactly what the referendum strategy proposes. Voters in Dane (Madison) and Milwaukee counties, which cover 25 percent of the state’s population, have voted for withdrawal from Iraq (2006), for universal health care (2007), and for paid sick leave for all (2007). These counties, and other Democratic-controlled counties and cities, can place advisory measures on the ballot to protect union rights and oppose budget cuts.

More than that, people could vote on advisory measures to establish statewide initiative and referendum rights. A July 2010 poll showed, that by almost 4:1, Wisconsin voters want such rights (see HERE), and it will be politically costly for Republicans to oppose them. If these rights are established, voters will be able to petition statewide to overturn laws, such as the attack on unions, at the ballot box, and place on the ballot the policies and legislation they want and need. Barack Obama won 59 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties in 2008.

f the seven most populous counties won by Obama with more than 60 percent of the vote (Dane, Milwaukee, and the next five largest counties) placed these progressive measures on the ballot, a third of the state could vote. Wisconsin election law says that an election can be held 42 days after a city or county votes for a special election. In addition, cities in other parts of the state can vote on initiatives placed on the ballot by citizen petition.

Referendum votes in Wisconsin cities and counties can strengthen the recall campaign against Governor Scott Walker in 2012 and lay a much stronger foundation to end Republican control of the state in the November 2012 elections. Equally important, the people of Wisconsin can achieve these victories while at the same time voting for a progressive agenda for their state, and for the country.

At every level of educational achievement, Wisconsin public employees make less than their counterparts in private employment. This is true in every state of the country. Yet because public employees tend to be older and better educated than other workers, they make more on average. Republicans misleadingly use this fact to justify their attacks on public employee unions, trying to build resentment from taxpayers who “have to pay these high salaries.”

The Republican attack on public employee unions in Wisconsin is backfiring. The above graphic is from a Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll in Wisconsin conducted February 16-20, 2011. It shows surprisingly strong support for public employees and unions. By 52-42 percent, voters opposed Governor Walker’s plan. 58 percent oppose eliminating collective bargaining, 57 percent oppose reducing wages for public employees, and 50 percent oppose reducing pension benefits for public employees. Seventy-eight percent of Democrats oppose eliminating collective bargaining rights, but 59 percent of independents and even a third of Republicans oppose it as well.

Finally, voters are convinced that if public employees accept wage and benefit concessions, as they have said they are willing to do, that Governor Walker should drop his attempt to eliminate collective bargaining. Three quarters (74-21 percent) say that public employees should not have their collective bargaining rights eliminated, including nearly half of Republicans. Support for collective bargaining is strongest among poor and working class people, with decreasing levels of support up to those with $90,000 annual income. Only those with incomes above $90,000 oppose collective bargaining. Nationally, a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted February 21 found 61 percent opposition to state laws taking away collective bargaining rights of public employee unions, with 33 percent in favor.

This is no surprise: In poll after poll, on a wide range of issues, the core support nationally for many progressive or Democratic positions falls in the low 60s, and on many other issues support is between 70 and 80 percent, while the core support for Republican positions on most of these issues is around 33-35 percent. This creates a real opportunity to put support for public employees, their unions, and unions in general on the ballot this year. In addition, three quarters of Americans support federal jobs programs for the unemployed, including 72 percent in the South, according to one poll.

The call for the February 26 solidarity rallies in all 50 states read as follows:

“In Wisconsin and around our country, the American Dream is under fierce attack. Instead of creating jobs, Republicans are giving tax breaks to corporations and the very rich—and then cutting funding for education, police, emergency response, and vital human services.

On Saturday, February 26, we are organizing rallies in front of every statehouse and in every major city to stand in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. We demand an end to the attacks on worker's rights and public services across the country. We demand investment, to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. And we demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.

We are all Wisconsin. We are all Americans.

This Saturday, we will stand together to Save the American Dream.”

If we act, tens of millions of Americans can be given a vote to Save the American Dream in referendum elections in December and January. They can include a vote to “end to the attacks on worker's rights and public services across the country”; a vote for “investment to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work”; and a vote to “demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.”

At every level of educational achievement, Wisconsin public employees make less than their counterparts in private employment. This is true in every state of the country. Yet because public employees tend to be older and better educated than other workers, they make more on average. Republicans misleadingly use this fact to justify their attacks on public employee unions, trying to build resentment from taxpayers who “have to pay these high salaries.”

The Republican attack on public employee unions in Wisconsin is backfiring. The above graphic is from a Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll in Wisconsin conducted February 16-20. It shows surprisingly strong support for public employees and unions. By 52-42 percent, voters opposed Governor Walker’s plan. 58 percent oppose eliminating collective bargaining, 57 percent oppose reducing wages for public  employees, and 50 percent oppose reducing pension benefits for public employees. Seventy-eight percent of Democrats oppose eliminating collective bargaining rights, but 59 percent of independents and even a third of Republicans oppose it as well. Finally, voters are convinced that if public employees accept wage and benefit concessions, as they have said they are willing to do, that Governor Walker should drop his attempt to eliminate collective bargaining. Three quarters (74-21 percent) say that public employees should not have their collective bargaining rights eliminated, including nearly half of Republicans. Support for collective bargaining is strongest among poor and working class people, with decreasing levels of support up to those with $90,000 annual income. Only those with incomes above $90,000 oppose collective bargaining. Nationally, a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted February 21 found 61 percent opposition to state laws taking away collective bargaining rights of public employee unions, with 33 percent in favor.

This is no surprise: in poll after poll, on a wide range of issues, the core support nationally for many progressive or Democratic positions falls in the low 60s, and on many other issues support is between 70 and 80 percent, while the core support for Republican positions on most of these issues is around 33-35 percent. This creates a real opportunity to put support for public employees, their unions, and unions in general on the ballot this year. In addition, three quarters  of Americans support federal jobs programs for the unemployed, including 72 percent in the South, according to one poll.

On Saturday, February 26, tens of thousands of Americans in all 50 states rallied to show solidarity with the people of Wisconsin and to save the American Dream. On the same day, over 100,000 people rallied at the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, the largest demonstration to that point in Wisconsin’s history. The numbers were slightly larger two weeks later at a rally March 12, the day after Governor Walker signed the antiunion bill.

These solidarity demonstrations took place at all 50 state capitols, and in cities ranging from Juneau, Alaska, to Miami, Florida, from Los Angeles and San Diego to Boston and Maine. Over 2,000 turned out in San Francisco.

Hundreds rallied in Topeka, Kansas.

Van Jones, visionary human rights and environmental leader, speaking at a solidarity rally.

Hundreds rallied in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Congressional representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) speaks to crowd in St. Paul. Ellison is co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

California college students protest in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. Students and teachers have played a key role in fighting budget cuts all over the country.

Fifty major national and regional progressive organizations sponsored this day of solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. Altogether, this broad cross-section of the progressive movement represents 15 to 20 million people.

The call for the February 26 solidarity rallies in all 50 states read as follows:

“In Wisconsin and around our country, the American Dream is under fierce attack. Instead of creating jobs, Republicans are giving tax breaks to corporations and the very rich—and then cutting funding for education, police, emergency response, and vital human services.

On Saturday, February 26, we are organizing rallies in front of every statehouse and in every major city to stand in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. We demand an end to the attacks on worker's rights and public services across the country. We demand investment, to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. And we demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.

We are all Wisconsin. We are all Americans.

This Saturday, we will stand together to Save the American Dream.”

If we act, tens of millions of Americans can be given a vote to Save the American Dream in referendum elections in November. They can include a vote to “end to the attacks on worker's rights and public services across the country”; a vote for “investment to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work”; and a vote to “demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.”