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Broad Spectrum of Unions Rally In Defense of Public Services In Wisconsin

October 18, 2007

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By Doug Cunningham

Hundreds of workers and their unions from a broad spectrum of public and private sectors rallied in Wisconsin’s capital Wednesday in support of adequate state funding of public services. Wisconsin is the only state in the nation without a new budget because Republicans are blocking any increases in public services. AFSCME’s Marty Beil says this budget battle transcends so-called partisan “bickering”.

[Beil]: “There's huge differences in terms of values between the Democratic view of continuing the values and what the future lies for Wisconsin and the Republicans and what they think the values ought to be. So it isn't mere bickering. It's not kids fightin' with each other. We're battling for the heart and soul of Wisconsin."

Firefighter Travis Teesch.

[Teesch]: "I'm out here because I want to make sure my kid can go to school and get a better education, that my garbage gets picked up in a timely fashion, that roads get plowed and rebuilt when they need to be. I don't know who they think is going to pay for this if they start cutting taxes. Who's gonna come in and protect our families? We need a police force that'll be able to respond in a timely manner. If somebody's having a heart attack you're gonna need paramedics there. And you're gonna need firefighters if your house burns down."

Sharon Schultz is a youth counselor at a juvenile prison.

[Schultz]: “We want every citizen of Wisconsin to have an ambulance service, a fire department, a police department, our schools ran, every hospital to be open, streets to be safe, public to be safe."

The unions at the rally included AFSCME, the Firefighters Association, Painters, Operating Engineers, SEIU nurses, Laborers and Teachers.

Corrections officer Justin Gibbons.

[Gibbons]: “We have a thousand more inmates than we did last budget, but we have no funding to deal with the additional incarcerated persons."

Ann Louise Tetreault is an SEIU Registered Nurse.

[Tetraeault]: "I just got through payin' my taxes and I'm payin' for a whole lot of people's health insurance and I'm proud of it."

AFSCME’s Marty Beil says if Republicans continue to block a Wiscosnin state budget it will hit the state hard.

[Beil2]: "Not passing a budget has huge impact. We're talking about rolling layoffs, agency closures, placement centers - all that kind of stuff closin' down. So in terms of how my members deliver services - huge impact."

(from the Workers Independent News radio report for October 18, 2007)

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