The crowds in Wisconsin and elsewhere continued to swell over the President's Day weekend, as SEIU members joined tens of thousands of their brothers and sisters standing up for the middle class.
Organized workers, veterans, students, faith leaders, academics, celebrities, community activists, elected officials and more have come together to fight a dishonest attempt by Governor Walker to deprive union workers of their right to collective bargaining - a move that has nothing to do with the state budget.
Read the letter SEIU Local 521 member Karen Lemes wrote to a Wisconsin state senator:
Dear Senator,
My grandmother Lydia Marie Antoinette Hoff arrived at Ellis Island from Norway in 1904 as a teenager. She lived with a family in Whitehall and perfected her English while attending school, first in the 4th grade and gradually moving up every few months as her English improved. So my ties and fond feelings go back to Wisconsin for the good start in life she received.
I am crying as I write this message of sadness and desperation for the people of Wisconsin and perhaps the people of the rest of the country. The Governor must be stopped. In particular, I am concerned about the possible loss of bargaining rights for state workers. As a union member and an active member of my COPE here in San Jose, California, I know that the most powerful voice and body to stand up for the poor and the middle class is actually the union movement. I fear for the state without a strong union movement.
In 1914, my grandmother and her new husband started a small bank in Minnesota. During the Depression they were able to keep their bank open and serving the community because there were people who fought for important protections for the farmers and other working families. The Bank Holiday and the other progressive reforms saved this country in some of its darkest economic days. We need visionary people to take the lessons of the past and apply them today, not wipe out the middle class to protect the wealthy.
In solidarity,
Karen Lindquist Lemes
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