Published 16 Jun, 2011
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, June 15 to uphold Governor Scott Walker’s union busting law that strips public sector workers of their collective bargaining rights, but people in Wisconsin and across the country are ramping up efforts to stop the anti-worker agenda.
The court ruled 4-3 that Republicans in the state legislature did not violate open meetings laws when they passed the bill during a last minute late night meeting. Previously, a lower judge had issued an injunction blocking the implementation of the law.
Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, one of the dissenting judges, said the majority “reached a predetermined conclusion not based on the facts and the law, which undermines the majority’s ultimate decision.”
“This will not silence the voices of millions of Wisconsinites who are appalled by Walker’s extreme choices,” says Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt. “The inability of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to separate partisan politics from the well-being of Wisconsinites is the latest indication that citizens do not have a voice in this state. And the only way for Wisconsinites to repair that voice is to take back the Senate this summer, stop Walker’s unbridled assault on working people and take back the statehouse in 2012.”
Thousands of Wisconsinites have descended on the statehouse to protest while people continue to camp out in front of the capitol in a tent city dubbed “Walkerville.” Workers and their allies are now focused on recall elections that could tip the balance of the state Senate towards Democrats who have resolutely opposed this assault on workers’ rights.
Walker and his fellow anti-worker politicians cannot simply erase workers’ rights with their signatures because American workers are united and mobilized in stopping this affront to democracy. Check out this video message to Governors around the country.