Three years….in the grand scheme of things, not a very long
time. For public employees in Wisconsin, so much has
changed in that time. Three years ago
today, Governor Scott Walker shared the news that he was going to change the
historic relationship between the public and those who worked to provide
service to them. Historic, in that Wisconsin
was one of the first states where public employees organized, the birthplace of
my union, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME), the state where civil service took root over 100 years ago, a state
where Workers Compensation began, the state with the strongest retirement
system for Public Employees, the state where Public Employees were granted the
right to collectively bargain over 50 years ago. A state where public employees were respected.
That all changed on February 11, 2011. There have been numerous books written on
the events leading to and the reasoning behind Walkers decision. Those same books talk a lot about what
happened in Madison
during those February and March days in 2011.
Few of the books written talk about what was going on outside of Madison. Even in Unintimidated,
Scott Walker's vanity book, little is said about outstate activities, except for an
exaggerated discussion of an incident in LaCrosse and references to several
incident in later in 2011. Walker goes so far to mention that the people outside of Madison for the most part supported him and he blames the
activities in Madison
on the locals there and out of state agitators brought in by the Union “bosses”. For this third anniversary, I thought it was
time to talk a bit about what was happening in one city 100 miles from Madison….Oshkosh.
By Friday morning, Feb. 11, 2011, most of use who were
involved in our unions knew something was coming down that day. We had been ready for something since Walker’s election in
November.
No one expected it that week, Wisconsin was celebrating the Packers Superbowl victory the past Sunday. But, on Thursday, social media was full of reports of an announcement from the Governor, and it wouldn’t be good. There were emails and enough information that we knew it would happen on Friday.
No one expected it that week, Wisconsin was celebrating the Packers Superbowl victory the past Sunday. But, on Thursday, social media was full of reports of an announcement from the Governor, and it wouldn’t be good. There were emails and enough information that we knew it would happen on Friday.
Here’s a Facebook comment I made on Thursday night. Guess we did have a pretty good idea of what
was coming.
“Gov.
Scotty must be pee in his pants excited tonight ....tomorrow he gets to do what
he has dreamed about for years--screw the State Employees. Except for the State
Troopers---he doesn't want his drivers or Daddy Fitz to get to upset with him.”
As a local President and a member of the Council 24
Executive Board, I had shared as much as possible with my local members and
others in the area. We had been telling
our political friends that we were going to need their help.
I guess February 11, 2011 is one of those days for many Wisconsin
Public Employees that you remember what you were doing when “Walker Dropped the Bomb”.
I had plans for that Friday. LC1 and I had taken a day of vacation to go
snowshoeing in Door
County. There was snow on the ground, but, unlike
this winter, forecasts sounded like it wasn’t going to last long. I think we debated a little on whether to go
or not in light of what might happen, but we decided, this could be our last
chance to get out for the season. So,
we headed up to Door County and Peninsula
State Park.
I still have the 1 day permit on the
windshield of my car from that day….it reminds me of what we had and what we
need to keep fighting for.
I don’t think we listened to the radio on the way up to Door County. We figured we’d find out soon enough how bad
it was going to be. It was a great day
on the trail. Not surprisingly, I got a
phone call from my local Vice President when we were almost done on the
trail. He shared how things were going
on campus. There were messages on my phone from a reporter
from the Northwestern, Later, after lunch in at a Fish Creek restaurant, I’d talk with him driving up the hill out of
Fish Creek. He shared about what would
eventually be known as Act 10. It was pretty tough accepting that the rumors
were true. With less than a month in
office, Walker would throw Wisconsin
statutes that had been in existence for over 50 years in the garbage. Walker
boasted that the legislation would be passed in a week, and he would end what
he believed to be holding the state back, he would eliminate collective
bargaining for Public Employees.
What was the plan, how do we react, how can you stop this…..those
were everyone’s questions that night…..
