Milwaukee, WI – One year after the so-called Right to Work law was imposed by the state government on Wisconsin workers, Dane County Judge William Foust overturned it April 8, stating it was unconstitutional.

Under this law, freeloaders in the workplace enjoy all the benefits of union organizing efforts for wages, health care, vacation and sick leave, job protection and retirement benefits without having to pay the dues that help make these things possible, like their coworkers do.

The bill became law last year amidst protests of tens of thousands in Madison, Milwaukee and other cities. Many came to the capitol rotunda to fight the anti-worker legislation in actions reminiscent of those in 2010, when Governor Scott Walker signed a bill into law that imposed extreme restrictions on public sector labor unions. In those whirlwind months, the capitol building was occupied and the state government was paralyzed as Democratic state senators responded to workers’ protests and fled the state to temporarily prevent a vote. That 2010 law, commonly called Act 10, devastated unions of school teachers, municipal workers and other public servants.

25 other states have similar laws that force unions to represent workers who refuse to pay their share of dues. Under intense corporate pressure, no other state’s courts have successfully overturned such a law.

Judge Foust found in his ruling that the forced union representation of freeloaders results in the government taking union funds without fairly compensating them.

The lawsuit was brought on by Machinists Local Lodge 1061 in Milwaukee, the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, and United Steelworkers District 2.

“We applaud the court's decision against the union-busting Right To Work law,” said Sean Orr, President of Milwaukee's United Workers Organization (UWO), “Nevertheless, the fight for workers’ rights and empowerment in the workplace will be won not in the courts, but on the shop floors we work and in the streets in which we live. We in the UWO will continue that fight and urge others to join us.”

The United Workers Organization runs the “Defeat Right to Work in Wisconsin” Facebook page that has been a major outlet for workers news and opinions in the state since the law passed. The page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/defeatrighttowork/?fref=ts

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Participants enjoyed a lively discussion of the state of the labor movement in Wisconsin and beyond. They also discussed the past years efforts of the United Worker Organization. Founded a year earlier during the protests against Right to Work, the UWO is full of union members who want to see a fighting worker movement and have built campaigns in their workplaces, strike solidarity, and protests against reactionary anti-worker legislation.

“We support class struggle unionism, meaning are against the collaboration and concessions so often pursued by union leaders today. It means putting the shop floor struggle front and center in rebuilding our movement,” said Sean Orr, who was elected UWO president at the meeting. “Getting Democrats elected won’t do that. Trying to win over Republicans won’t do that. Only unions led by the rank and file and oriented towards fighting as a class can bring the labor movement to the position of power that our class needs.”

In the year since its founding, the UWO has taken an active role in Wisconsin’s labor struggles. The group organized mass rallies of hundreds during the passage of Right to Work, including the only rally in Milwaukee against the legislation, as well as establishing the widely successful Defeat Right to Work in Wisconsin Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/defeatrighttowork/ They provided support during the three-day work stoppage of Milwaukee County bus drivers as well as strike solidarity to Kohler workers during their most recent strike.

All participants in the meeting left motivated to organize their fellow workers and many expressed desire to see workers across the country learn from this example of forming a United Worker Organization.

Jaclyn Kelly, a vice-president of her AFSCME local, stated that she enjoyed the opportunity to meet with workers different unions who are all struggling with the same issues.

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Milwaukee, WI – Around 150 members and supporters of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998, the union of Milwaukee's bus drivers, protested outside Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele's $2.1 million downtown condominium, July 3. The protest was initiated by the United Workers Organization, a group of young rank-and-file union activists that was formed during the fight against ‘right to work’ earlier this year.

July 3 is the final day of the planned three-day work strike by ATU 998. The decision to stop work was taken after Abele refused to agree to a fair contract with Milwaukee's bus drivers. The union is demanding adequate bathroom breaks for drivers and full-time jobs offering a living wage, benefits, stability and job security.

Abele, on the other hand, wants to introduce part-time driving positions, not only to save money at the expense of workers, but also to divide workers against one another and ultimately to break the union in the wake of ‘right to work.’ Abele and the corporate media have sought to distract from these fundamental issues by spreading the lie that the union has rejected a pay increase.

Speaking to news cameras outside Abele's residence, ATU 998 President James Macon would offer no guarantee that service would resume at 3:00 a.m. on July 4 as scheduled. He suggested that viewers call Abele at 414-278-4211 and ask why he won't agree to a fair contract with the union.

Addressing the crowd on behalf of the United Workers Organization, Teamsters Local 344 member Dan Ginsberg said that with its work stoppage, ATU is showing the way forward for the labor movement in Wisconsin. “The fight ATU 998 is leading is for a better contract,” he said, “but is also part of a larger struggle against the enemies of the working class.”

Several speakers connected the work stoppage to other ongoing social struggles in Milwaukee. Nate Hamilton, a prominent activist in the Black Lives Matter movement whose brother, Dontre Hamilton, was murdered by a Milwaukee police officer in 2014, addressed the crowd. Whether we're fighting for a fair labor contract or for fair treatment from the police, Hamilton said, “We fight for equality, we fight for respect, and we fight for the rights of all working people.” Urging bolder action, Hamilton then led the protest in a march that occupied the streets of downtown Milwaukee for several blocks.

Marcelia Nicholson of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association spoke of the solidarity between teachers and bus drivers. “Transit workers get our students to school and their parents to work every day,” she said before leading the protest in chanting, “No justice, no buses, no school takeover!” Abele, a Democrat, is working with Republicans in an ongoing attempt to privatize Milwaukee's schools.

In closing the rally, activist and former ATU member Angela Walker addressed the decision to protest at Abele's residence. “You're messing with my house,” she said, “so we're coming to yours!”

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