Wisconsin Teamsters continue the fight against right to work

Local 344 President Bill Carroll.

Wisconsin's indefatigable Teamsters were out in the cold wind in the state capital on Saturday, Sunday and today to protest the probable passage of a right-to-work (RTW) bill. That's not all they're doing, though. They are giving speeches, training stewards, holding craft meetings, testifying before the Senate and the Assembly and contributing to DRIVE.

Rob Moss, Business Agent for Teamsters Local 695 in LaCrosse, was at all the rallies. He tells us Bill Carroll, President of Teamsters Local 344 in Milwaukee, member of Joint Council 39, revved up the crowd on Saturday: 

Brother Bill Carroll gave a very inspiring speech on behalf of all Teamsters. He was very well received by the entire crowd. He was spot-on with his accuracy in regards to the right-to-work legislation. Brother Bill is one of Joint Council 39's political liaisons. Brother Carroll was very informative about the needs of all of the unions to keep their members informed and most of all to keep up the members' involvement in the union efforts in the political arena.  

It's important that everybody understands -- especially our members -- this is not the end of the world. We have to deal with the results of next week's vote if it comes to pass and is negative. We are holding steward seminars and craft meetings in our Joint Council 39 effort to enlighten our members as to the effects of RTW. Locals 695, 200 and 662 held those steward seminars the last two weeks with the help of our legal counsel. 

It's our hope that some of the Republicans would come to their senses and realize the harm Governor Walker is imposing on American working men and women.

Mike Westphal (l) and Tom Millonzi. 

Here's the kind of effort Wisconsin Teamsters are putting into the fight: Tom Millonzi, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 200 in Milwaukee, told us the subject of DRIVE came up during Saturday's stewards' training. And then:

Mike Westphal, who has been out on a workers' comp back surgery issue -- and who will not be returning to the job -- pulled out his checkbook and made a one-time $100 donation to DRIVE. 

The Center for Media and Democracy reported something we all know: The right-to-work bill is being pushed by special interests linked to the Koch brothers:

As the Wisconsin legislature gets ready to ram through a union-busting bill that will significantly impact the economy of the entire state, Wisconsin's newest member of the Senate asked perhaps the most pertinent question of her Republican colleagues: "what beating hearts are for this bill?" 

The question was posed by Janet Bewley (D-Ashland) who was elected to the Wisconsin Senate in November 2014. She represents the far north where bitter winds and waves make spectacular ice caves that bring thousands to the frozen shores of Lake Superior. 

Bewley noted that the bill, which harms unions by allowing workers to opt out of paying their fair share for union representation, was moving so fast that most of her constituents, who get their news from weekly newspapers that come on Thursday, would not even learn about it before the Senate vote. 

While Democratic senators read letter after letter from workers and business leaders objecting to the measure that will lower wages and up-end critical training programs for builders and laborers, Brewley highlighted something the average observer might not notice: "I have not heard one person in the outer ring [of Republicans] speak of a single beating heart that is for this bill." 

But that matters little to the array of special interests that have arrived in Wisconsin to provide "experts" and astroturf cover for the anti-worker measure.

Good advice.

We'll try to post Brother Bill Carroll's speech soon. Keep an eye out!

Gwen Moore rips Walker another new one

Thanks to Local 344 in Milwaukee for sharing this youtube video from Koch whore Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's congressional testimony on Thursday. Rep. Gwen Moore gives a detailed but devastating critique of Walker's budget shenanigans, including raising taxes on the poor and cutting them for corporations.

WI Teamsters in thick of recall drive

Local 344 members sign recall petitions at the union office. 

Wisconsin's Teamster locals are putting some muscle behind the drive to recall eight of the Senate Republicans who voted to end collective bargaining rights for public workers in Wisconsin. (According to our recall clock, we will recall Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker in 287 days.)

Pat Tappa, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 344 in Milwaukee, said:

We have about 1,000 members that are in districts where senators are under recall. We will have the recall petitions circulating among our members continually. We’re reaching out to our members and giving them the option to exercise their democratic rights.

One of the senators under recall is Randy Hopper. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports

Even though the state is supposedly broke, top officials in Gov. Scott Walker’s team were able to scrape together enough money to give a state job to the woman identified as Sen. Randy Hopper’s girlfriend.

Hopper’s girlfriend is paid $12,000 more than her predecessor. She was recommended for the job by Walker’s chief of staff, and she was ultimately hired on by a Walker cabinet member.
Reality check: Hardworking Wisconsin teachers, firefighters, nurses and thousands of other public workers lose their collective bargaining rights. And the senator who voted for this anti-worker legislation makes sure Koch whore Gov. Walker helps his mistress get a state job. His wife is none too happy about this and neither are we.

Find out how to recall Hopper and the other seven senators on the Teamsters recall page.

More good WI recall news

Nearly half the signatures needed to recall the Wisconsin senators who voted to end collective bargaining have been collected. The Washington Post reported:

Dems have now collected over 56,000 signatures supporting the recall drivers, according to party spokesman Graeme Zielinski, after another surge in organizing activity over the weekend. That’s up from roughly 14,000 after last weekend. This means Dems are well ahead of schedule: In each targeted district, Dems need to amass the required signatures—25 percent of the number who voted in the last gubernatorial election—by a deadline of 60 days after first filing for recalls, which happened nearly two weeks ago.

Wisconsin Teamsters are a big reason the signatures are rolling in. Ric Schmidt, president of Local 344 in Milwaukee, says the recall efforts are moving along strong:

The people running the recall drives are in movie theaters, grocery stores and libraries. It’s a full effort and it’s pretty cool. We have statewide jurisdiction as a package and small parcel, UPS local and we’re working on this recall, as well.

Glenn Grothman is in a super Republican district, and there are lines waiting to sign a petition to recall him. Petitions are being signed like crazy to recall Albert Darling. I think she will be the first to go.

Schmidt says there is plenty that Teamsters in Wisconsin can do to join the recall effort.

We have a general membership meeting Sunday at Local 344 and that’s where we’re going to have recall petitions ready in case members from those districts come.

Teamsters stay spirited and peaceful in Madison

Photo taken by Local 344.

Every Wisconsin Teamster local was back for a sixth day of protest in Madison, we're told, and Teamsters are continuing to make the long trek from around the country. Our brother Rick Smith drove all the way from Harrisburg, Penn., and just arrived. He'll broadcast his radio show from Madison next week. You can listen to the show by downloading it here.

Wet, cold weather drove the protest inside the Rotunda of the Statehouse, according to NPR.  If you want to watch what's happening live, go to http://www.theuptake.org/.

We're starting to hear stories about yesterday's massive rally. Local 344 had a few encounters with the Tea Partiers yesterday. Here's what we learned from their Facebook page:

• Tens of thousands at the rally! A few tea party activists are trying their best to cause a disturbance but have thus far been unsuccessful!! We're better than that!
• There was one tea party guy wearing a leather jacket with body armor underneath marching along with us shouting anti union sentiments through a bull horn. A Koch brothers camera team was only inches away hoping for a fight to capture on film for their media outlets but they were denied!!! We are spirited and peaceful!
• One other tea party dude in the march was carrying a sign that said "stand with walker". Inches away was one of ours with a sign that said "Fall With Walker". The dude had a boat cushion strapped to his back for protection. Hilarious!!! Nobody touched him!

Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson became the eighth member or former member of the team to back the union cause. He issued a statement that said

It is an honor for me to play for the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers and be a part of the Green Bay and Wisconsin communities. I am also honored as a member of the NFL Players Association to stand together with working families of Wisconsin and organized labor in their fight against this attempt to hurt them by targeting unions.

We also learn there was a Wisconsin Solidarity rally in New York City on Thursday. Watch the video here.

Teamsters in dozens of cities throughout the U.S. are gearing up for solidarity rallies next week.  Here's a fresh list of Wisconsin Solidarity rallies. They're spreading beyond state capitals to smaller cities like Scranton, Penn., and Colorado Springs, and there's even one in Puerto Rico. If you live in Pennsylvania, show your solidarity on Tuesday by wearing red.

Saturday: Teamsters protest like Egyptians

Teamsters from all over the country drove to Madison to hold the line in the war against the middle class on Saturday. It was the biggest protest yet. Brother Steven Nelson from Local 200 said the crowd is estimated at 70,000, of which only about a thousand were from the Tea Party.

We understand the Tea Partiers didn't try to provoke the Teamsters. According to a twitterer, @SAndrewDKos:

You shoulda seen the tea buggers shut up & look inconspicuous whenever teamsters or pipe-fitters walked by.

UPDATE: Local 344 posted a short video of the protest inside the Rotunda on its Facebook page. Amid the din, one of our brothers tells the camera:

You're now seeing the most sacred of all rights in a democracty: dissesnt. Isn't it a beautiful thing? The working people of this state are coming back to life again. It's high time. It's happeneing and it's happening now.

Our brothers and sisters vow to carry on until lawmakers kill the bill to eliminate collective bargaining rights, even as rallies and vigils are being planned in nearly every state in the country for Monday and Tuesday. As our favorite sign in Madison said, "Just Practicing."

These Teamsters drove from Missouri.

Union member parades into the Rotunda were led by firefighters, who were exempt from Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker's bill. (UPATE: Watch this incredible video of the parade here.) Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin said,

When firefighters see an emergency, one thing we do is respond. And we see an emergency in the house of labor, so that's why we're here.

Here's a great first-person account from The Nation

Day after day, I saw the crowds swell as people arrived on buses from across the state and even across the country. I saw feeder marches of 5,000 high school students chanting with an unguarded, proud fury you’d never know today’s teenagers possessed. I saw people dressed like King Tut with a banner saying they would “protest like Egyptians.” I spoke to nurses choking with rage that they would have to take second jobs or go onto food stamps if business as usual took place in the Capitol Building. I saw thousands sing the Wisconsin Badger football fight song, ending with “Fight Fight Fight and We’ll WIN THE DAY!” and they weren’t talking about football.

The Wisconsin 14 -- Democratic state senators who left the state rather than vote on the bill -- stayed away.  One of them, Dave Hansen, is a former Teamster from Local 662. His old local was out in force:



Here are a few more photos, thanks to Locals 344 and 200. You can see more on the "Stop the War on Workers" web page.

Teamsters trek to Madison for Day 5

Inside the Rotunda from Teamsters Local 344

Teamsters are heading back to Madison today as the billionaire Koch brothers pay for a counter-demonstration by Tea Partiers.

Teamsters Local 344 in Milwauke posted a tremendous video of Friday's rally inside the Rotunda. Watch it here. You'll be blown away by the spirited crowd blowing horns, beating drums, waving signs and chanting, "This is what/Democracy looks like."

Bill Carroll, our brother from Local 344, tells the camera,

This is America. You've got to fight for your freedom, brother.

And our brother behind the camera says,

Does anybody see any violence or misbehavior? When this goes on the Internet, let the whole world know this is a peaceful protest with a lot of spirit.

The total crowd yesterday was estimated at 40,000. Local 344 is headed back today (we're sure other Teamster locals are going, too, but we haven't heard from them yet).  They posted this urgent message on their Facebook page:

ATTENTION ALL LOCAL 344 MEMBERS AND THEIR FAMILIES!!! Drop what you are doing and go to the Capitol tomorrow (Feb. 19th) at 10:30am. All Teamsters please converge on the intersection of State St. and Capitol Square (across from the Veterans Museum). We must defeat Govenor Walker's budget bill!! This is urgent!!! Your future is at stake!!!

Comments Rick Brueggeman

I'll see you in the morning... we can fix this..... GO UNION!!!!!!!!!

Working people from all over the country are showing their support. Writes Workin Guy on the Teamsters new "Stop the War on Workers" Facebook page,

I hope this weekend brings 10's of thousands from around the country to Wisconsin. Wish it wasn't 2000 miles away or would come over and protest and I'm not even Union but stand by their cause. Repubes will do anything and everything to turn workers into SERFS. I hope to hell you Wisconites impeach Governor Mubarak.

Workers held solidarity rallies in Albany, N.Y., and Sacramento, Calif., yesterday as the voice of dissent is building to a roar.

On Monday alone, we expect rallies Helena, Mont., Las Vegas, Carson City, Nev., Raleigh, N.C., Salem, Ore., Olympia, Wash., and, of course, Madison, Wisc. Teamsters will also be at a press conference in Lansing, Mich. These are just the events we know about, and there will be more on Tuesday. We're trying to provide as much up-to-date information as we can about these events on the IBT's "Stop the War on Workers" web page (along with news, photos and resources like fliers and fact sheets).

Tea Partiers are showing up at these rallies too, compliments of the reactionary billionaire Koch brothers who gave generously to Scott Walker's campaign for Wisconsin governor.  Think Progress reported yesterday,

...the greatest ally to Walker is the dirty energy company Koch Industries. In response to the growing protests in Madison, Koch fronts are busing in Tea Party protesters to support Walker and his union-busting campaign. Last night, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz reported on the involvement of Club for Growth and the Koch-financed Americans for Prosperity in the pro-Walker protest scheduled tomorrow.

They'll be hoping to provoke workers into unseemly behavior and then send the video to Fox News. Let's hope their rally is as pathetic as the one in Ohio earlier this week.

And there's a little bit of good news from Wisconsin. The Democratic senators who left the state, preventing a quorum and a vote on the union-busting budget bill, could stay away for weeks, reports the Associated Press:

The 14 Senate Democrats left the state Thursday, delaying action in that chamber on a sweeping anti-union bill. Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who was among those who fled, said Friday that the group was prepared to be away for weeks, although he would like the standoff to end as soon as possible.

“That really, truly is up to the governor,” he told The Associated Press in an interview Friday at a Chicago hotel. “It’s his responsibility to bring the state together. The state is not unified. It is totally torn part.”

One of the senators, Dave Hansen, is a former Teamster who belonged to Local 662. He issued this statement:

Today teachers, nurses, child care workers, prison guards and other public employees agreed to pay a greater share of their pension and health insurance to help resolve the state's budget issues. As we have said throughout this week, the issue is not a financial one, but a matter of principle: that is to protect the rights of Wisconsin workers.

Governor Walker and legislative Republicans have sought to pass an unprecedented assault on 50 years of collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin workers in less than five days. Deciding to declare the polka the state dance received more legislative consideration than this 144 page bill that would turn back the clock on decades of hard fought protections for Wisconsin families.

It is time for Governor Walker and legislative Republicans to remove all language related to collective bargaining from this bill and return the bill's focus to their stated concern for the state's finances.

Finally, here are a few more photos from our brothers and sisters at Local 344.

More photos from Wisconsin

Our brothers and sisters who joined the protest in Madison today sent us some more pictures which we thought you'd enjoy.

We are also putting together a photo gallery on the new "Stop the War on Workers" page, which will also update you about rallies, protests and vigils that are being planned in other states. Photos are also being posted on our new "Stop the War on Workers" Facebook page (formerly "Stop Right to Work (for LESS) page. So go to the page and hit "Like."

There's lots more news coming, so stay tuned!