Collective bargaining and a vibrant middle class go hand-in-hand

Need proof? Look to Wisconsin, where more than 100,000 teachers, nurses, librarians and other public workers' courageous efforts in a critical battle to safeguard collective bargaining rights have now entered Day 4 of the state-wide protests.

On day four of the protest for workers' rights in Wisconsin, thousands of supporters and union members pack into the Capitol Rotunda

In a CNN article discussing governors' attacks on the rights of working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, New York and New Jersey, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry speaks to the nationwide ramifications of the Wisconsin budget battle and what's at stake here for public employees, organized labor and all middle class, working people:

"We think there should be a vibrant middle class in America and collective bargaining is the best way to guarantee it."

[...] "We think our wages and benefits should not be the ceiling for working people in the country. It should be the floor."

The Wisconsin protests prove Americans are willing to preserve a fair middle-class wage--and unions are the only weapon working people have left against wealthy corporations. "The right to form a union is critical to a democratic society because it is the only way to assure that employers do not treat their employees as commodities," writes political organizer and author Robert Creamer on the Huffington Post. "Human beings are not 'commodities' to be bought and sold. They're the purpose of the economy, not objects to be chewed up and spit out when they're no longer needed."

More on Wisconsin from SEIU.org here and here.

Send a message of support to SEIU members in Wisconsin.

Watch live video of the protest taking place inside the Capitol Rotunda right now.