SANTA ROSA RALLY BACKS WISCONSIN WORKERS

 

IBEW Local 1245 was in the thick of the action when workers rallied in Santa Rosa on March 4 to show support for the embattled public workers of Wisconsin.

“People died for the eight-hour work day. People died to negotiate. If that goes for (Wisconsin), it’s only a matter of time,” said Local 1245 steward John Kent, a 34-year troubleman for PG&E. “If it’s wrong there, it’s wrong here. We are one country.”

Kent was quoted in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

The rally, which attracted some 200 labor union supporters, was yet another sign that the workers of Wisconsin are not alone in their nearly month-long struggle to preserve their collective bargaining rights, which are under direct assault from Wisconsin’s newly-elected governor, Scott Walker. If the governor’s legislation is enacted, unions would be allowed to bargain only for wages, and the most they could bargain for would be the inflation rate.

In other words, for public workers in Wisconsin, there would be only one direction their standard of living could move: down.

“If you think it can’t happen here, what’s going on in Wisconsin, think again,” said Jack Thomas, also quoted in the Press Democrat. Thomas is president of the Santa Rosa Firefighters Local 1401.