| Will Wisconsin's resistance to its governor's anti-labor crackdown catch in New Jersey? We may have to wait till after Friday to know that. Expect the Dairy State union laborers to be hailed as conquering heroes. Expect cheering. But for a sea shift in attitude in non-union New Jerseyans, some hearts and minds need to change in the Garden State. Our governor has made himself famous off the backs of New Jersey's unionized public school teachers, and at the expense of the state's public workers. Christie's meteoric rise in national GOP politics - increasingly, he's only talking to GOP faithful - gives comfort to the Gov. Scott Walkers of this country, that their mandate is to destroy unions in the name of reform. And Christie's been one helluva anti-union propagandist. In Wisconsin, it's university students and the parents of children whose schools shut down whose support made this world news. For a sea change to happen here, we need the high school & middle school kids - whose surprise, Twitter-organized walkout against Christie's school cuts was the best action of 2010 - to see their place in this now. And we need their parents.
There are larger issues even than a Republican assault on 70 years of collective bargaining rights in the Dairy State. On your TV screens you are watching an epic fight for the soul of the Democratic Party. More remarkable than the massive union protest, or the school closings, are "the Wisconsin 14", the Democratic Senators who left the capitol, then left the state to rob Scott Walker of his chance to ram regressive anti-labor legislation through without much chance for discussion.
Think about whether your Democrats in New Jersey would have that kind of balls. Just think about it. New Jersey isn't Wisconsin and Christie's anti-worker propaganda has been a slow acid drip, not a not a single-action outrage. Some legislative Democrats, I know, are bravehearts, and have their heads screwed on right. But I see a lot of capitulation, and going along to get along.
Friday's rally is billed as an opportunity for "shoulder to shoulder solidarity" against attacks on working families and assaults on collective bargaining rights. It's billed as New Jersey's support of the Wisconsin resistance. We'll see.
Welcome Wisconsin Workers Rally
Wisconsin workers, national AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka
Friday, Feb. 25 - 12 noon
New Jersey State House |
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