Beil, executive director of AFSCME 24, wrote the post after returning from the Thursday sing-along in the Capitol Rotunda, where Matt Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine, Madison Ald. Mark Clear, a 14-year-old girl and three members of the Raging Grannies were arrested. Beil noted how the sing-along has endured even as the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker has office has been able to systematically dominate policy-making. "This daily reminder to Walker is the only thing he and his right-wing cronies have not been able to crush," Beil wrote. More than 100,000 people gathered at the state Capitol at the height of the 2011 protests. While some were there to protest proposed cuts to Medicaid and other GOP policies, the focus was on union rights, and union members dominated the crowd. But those crowds dwindled after the Legislature passed Act 10, which dealt a severe blow to the power of public unions. Beil, who could not be reached for comment, wrote that it was time for labor to return to the Capitol. "This is our fight and our time. We need you standing shoulder to shoulder with other Wisconsin citizens to call out the inequities, corruption and incompetence of the Walker administration. Yours in the union!" Walker spokesman Tom Evenson did not return a phone call for comment. Hundreds of protesters have received $200 tickets since July 24 for participating in the sing-along without a permit. Before that, more than 200 citations had been issued to protesters since July 2012. In early August Capitol police officers were also warning observers, including Rep. Sondy Pope (D-Middleton), that they, too, were subject to arrest. But the Department of Administration later backed off, saying that "observers will not receive citations."
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 17:06:15 +0000
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