From the Massachusetts Nurse Newsletter
February/March 2011 Edition
With only three days notice, 1,500 union members converged on the State House in Boston on Feb. 22 to rally in solidarity with their union brothers and sisters in Wisconsin, where a radically right wing governor and legislature are attempting to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees. Using the budget deficit as an excuse, Republican Gov. Scott Walker is not only claiming that public sector worker health insurance and pension benefits must be cut (concessions to which the unions there have already agreed), but is also seeking to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public sector workers completely. Make no mistake, this ploy is not about saving money. It is about busting public sector unions in Wisconsin completely, thereby eliminating any effective political opposition to the pro-corporate, anti-worker policies of extremely right wing Republicans.
Just four days later, more than 1,000 union members in Massachusetts, including dozens of MNA members, went to the State House to support the workers in Wisconsin, and also to send a very strong message to politicians right here: any attempt to do in Massachusetts what Governor Walker is doing in Wisconsin will be met with the fiercest opposition.
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