Milwaukee, WI – For the past several months, non-tenured faculty and graduate students at Marquette University have been organizing to form a union. They held rallies, distributed petitions and returned to administration demanding to be recognized and negotiated with as equals. In response, Marquette's administration has offered empty promises to “follow the law,” and refuses anything further.

On May 15, the union took a step forward, with workers and supporters staging a sit-in for recognition at Zilber hall on Marquette's campus that held on through the night. The administration met with the workers at 3:30 p.m. on May 16 and stated that police had been assembled to force the workers and their supporters into “free speech pens” to stop them from interfering with business.

At that point, the workers marched out in unison, and are vowing to continue the fight in the days and weeks to come.

“The purpose of the sit-in was to get a fair process. Administration has refused to agree to respect the results of a fair and democratic election,” says Tom Hansberger, a lecturer, and union organizer at Marquette.

The effort, if successful, will include large numbers of lecturers at Marquette's campus who, like many workers across the United States, have been largely ignored through the years as profits soar and the cost of living has risen.

#MilwaukeeWI #MilwauekeeWI #StudentMovement #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #unionRecognition #MarquetteUniversity #TeachersUnions

Milwaukee, WI – On April 6, members and affiliates of immigrant rights activist group United We Dream held actions around the country to raise awareness of a significant issue. DACA+ (Deferred Action for Children Arrivals extension) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) will return to the Supreme Court after a delay caused by Justice Scalia’s death in February. As the court date approaches, groups in Albuquerque, Milwaukee, and many other cities are holding actions, making noise and taking the streets in attempts to direct media attention toward the families affected by the measures.

On the night of April 6, in Milwaukee, students, workers and others marched down the busiest street of the city’s downtown, mariachi band in tow, chanting in support of their brothers, sisters, parents and selves, all eager for a favorable ruling on DACA+ and DAPA. The march was organized by Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), a radical immigrant rights group comprised of progressive university students and community members.

Blas Antimo Perez, a YES member and first generation Chicanx, said he was marching for “my undocumented parents. Although I do not benefit from DACA, having been born in the U.S., I stand with my brothers and sisters who deserve a better experience in this country. DACA and DAPA mean not having to live with paranoia, they mean having the freedom and comfort to plan for the future. These policies will allow self-determination for people who are constantly unable to fulfill their dreams because they are burdened by manmade borders ­ a detriment to Latinxs in this country.”

DACA+ and DAPA has the potential to better the lives of millions of immigrants currently living in fear of deportation, separation from their families and forced removal from their jobs and homes.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case April 18.

#MilwaukeeWI #MilwauekeeWI #StudentMovement #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino #UnitedWeDream #DACA #YouthEmpoweredInTheStruggleYES #DAPA

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

#MilwaukeeWI #MilwauekeeWI #Wisconsin #rightToWork #PublicSectorUnions #UnitedWorkersOrganization #DefeatRightToWorkInWisconsin