Wisconsin Gov. Attacks Public Employees & Unions

Run time: 12:21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhvPhlbU6Ig   Posted on YouTube: February 15, 2011 By YouTube Member: mediagrrl9 Views on YouTube: 940   Posted on DU: February 16, 2011 By DU Member: Joanne98 Views on DU: 572

 
DemocracyNow.org -

Recently elected Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker has proposed a bill that would eliminate almost all collective bargaining rights for most public workers and slash their pay and benefits. Walker has also notified the state's National Guard to be on alert for actions taken by unsatisfied state, county and municipal employees. On Monday, hundreds of protesters marched on the State Capitol in Madison, with more protests being planned. For more on this story, Democracy Now! interviews John Nichols of The Nation magazine and Brad Lutes, a Wisconsin public school teacher. Nichols warns the governor's actions could have national ramifications: "If Governor Walker pulls this off, if he succeeds in taking away collective bargaining rights from the union, AFSCME, which was founded in Wisconsin back in the 1930s, if he takes down one of the strongest and most effective teachers' unions, WEAC, in the country, then we really are going to see this sweep across the United States."