Labor & Employment Law

Tom Morello: Battle to Preserve Workers? Rights in Wisconsin a ?Watershed Moment?

By Tula Connell

Tom Morello was among top-name musicians who trekked to Wisconsin in recent days to perform for the thousands of citizens protesting Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to take away from public employees their freedom to bargain for good middle-class jobs. In an article out today in Rolling Stone, Morello describes the experience–and what made him pack up and travel through winter storms to Wisconsin even though he was taking a break to be home with his newborn. In short, Morello says he knew he had to go because:

The battle to preserve workers’ rights in Wisconsin is a watershed moment in US history. Wisconsin is Class War Ground Zero for the new millennium and a crucible for people’s rights in the United States.

When Morello and musicans from the Street Dogs and other bands went into the Capitol building, it was

thunderous with a wild drum circle punctuating a speech given by the President of the International Steel Worker’s Union, who vowed to keep steel workers in the capital building 24/7 to defend the protestors from being evicted. He dared Governor Walker to come and debate this issue face to face. The rotunda was DEAFENING with chants and drums. It really felt like the eye of a hurricane, the dawn of a thrilling new movement. The scene made me think of the famous Gandhi quote: “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 Morello knew he had made the right decision to stand in freezing weather and play his guitar.

…I was certain: these people in Wisconsin are not going to give up, they are not going to give in and if there is any justice in this world these good people will defeat Governor Walker’s awful anti-union bill. This right-wing governor has tried to take advantage of a recession brought on by Wall Street malfeasance to try to ram through legislation that would roll back decades of social progress. But he and his corporate shot callers miscalculated by taking on THESE people. We didn’t ask for this fight; Governor Walker tapped us on the shoulder and said, “Let’s fight.” Okay, dude, it’s on.

Read Morello’s full article here.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 26, 2011 (boomark / email).