Wisconsin Faces General Strikes After Anti-Collective Bargaining Bill Passed

[Purveyor]

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Now, there’s talk of a general strike in Wisconsin, an idea that’s on more than a few lips there. The South Central Federation of Labor, the body composed of Madison-area unions, voted to prepare for a general strike in late February; protesters inside the capitol today reported chants of “General strike!” and The Uptake uploaded a video from the capitol floor of the Madison firefighters union president calling for such a strike:

A general strike, in which all unions stop working, is the labor movement’s ultimate trump card. There is no other tactic that is more disruptive, but also none more risky: General strikes are illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. The United States has not seen one since labor’s heyday in 1934, when pitched battles took place on the streets of cities all around the country including Toledo, Ohio; San Francisco; and Minneapolis.

But it’s do-or-die for the labor movement and working people as a whole in Madison. If ever there were a time when typically cautious union leadership might call for drastic measures, this is it.

But the future does not just rest on action, but articulation. The right to collective bargaining and other employment rights, the right to a living income, the right to a quality education: they are not separate issues; they are not issues to be dealt with in the negative; they are not issues that should be used to slam Republicans. They are a better life for all people steering this American ship into the future.

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http://campusprogress.org/articles/wisconsin_faces_general_strikes_after_anti-collective_bargaining_bill_/