- Listen to the entire program<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n
![\"Ohio\"](\"http:\/\/fightforafaireconomy.org\/files\/2011\/02\/propSB5.jpg\")
Tens of thousands of Wisconsinites rallied yesterday morning inside the Capital Rotunda in Madison against Republican Governor Scott Walker’s union-busting budget proposal. Former Guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, Tom Morello, performed at the rally and afterward told Rolling Stone Magazine “[w]hat’s happened so far might be the most remarkable twenty-four hours of my life…I’ve never seen this kind of outpouring of unapologetic, steel-backboned support for union causes in the United States. The Madison police were delivering bratwurst to the protesters inside the capitol, and the kids were thanking them. It was unbelievable.” For more than a week members of all the major unions in Wisconsin, a state known for its strong pro-labor history, have assembled, protested, conducted sit-ins, sleep-ins, and more, capturing national attention. At stake is a budget proposal that would gut the rights of many unions to bargain collectively. But what’s happening in Wisconsin is not an isolated incident. Republican lawmakers have rolled out similar pieces of anti-union and anti-worker legislation in several states including Idaho, Indiana, and Ohio. Inspired by Wisconsin, and some would add, Egypt, Americans have raged in the streets in those states too. In Idaho, teachers have protested a set of three anti-teacher, anti-union bills proposed by Education Superintendent Tom Luna. In Ohio, teachers have organized against Senate Bill 5, introduced by Republicans and targeting union organizing rights. After being shut out of the Statehouse in Columbus by Republicans, protesters were finally let in to express themselves after threats of a lawsuit. And, in Indiana, Democrats took a page out of the Wisconsin book by fleeing the state to stall votes on a so-called “Right to Work” bill which would again undermine unions. Hundreds of union workers and students have been conducting sit-ins at the State House in Indianapolis. <\/p>\nGUEST: Darold Johnson, Legislative and Political Director of the Ohio AFL-CIO, Sherri Wood, President of the Idaho Education Association, Jane Slaughter, Staff Writer with Labor Notes<\/em><\/p>\n
Find out more about Ohio’s struggles at www.fightforafaireconomy.org<\/a><\/p>\n
Find out more about the Idaho teacher’s struggle at www.idahoed.org<\/a>. <\/p>\n