What we've got here is failure to negotiate

As you are likely aware, a number of things have happened since I last wrote. Here's a summary of my involvement:

Wednesday: After my morning class, I went up to the capitol to attend the noon rally with a fellow grad student (a Slovakian with stories about '89). The place was full of all sorts of union protesters, almost all public employees. Several school districts had closed as teachers were on strike sick, so there were a lot of teachers and other middle aged women there. There were also large contingents of corrections officers and nurses. The most popular were the cops and the firefighters, who are (for the most part) exempt from the bill. The firefighters were especially beloved because they brought their bagpipe and drum band and were circling the square. There were enough people that there were two protest marches going on - one around the capitol and one on the street. Inside the assembly was still hearing testimonies. People had already spent the night. There was cheering and chanting in the rotunda and signs up allover the place. People crowded the rotunda and the balconies. All in all, there were suppose be about 10,000 protesters. I had to go to class and then study for an exam so I was only there a couple of hours, although Matt was there longer. Foggy weather.

Thursday: The Senate was suppose to vote on the bill. As such, everyone was prepared for the worst. Many more school districts were closed due to illness. The ta union called for ta's to reschedule or hold class off campus. The student government called for a walkout. I gave my students class period to work on their writing projects during which I would be in my office for consultation. After I took my test, I went up to the capitol. When I got there the place seemed to have a lot more people than the day before. In addition to the public sector unions, a number of private sector groups had shown up - plumbers, iron workers, electricians, etc. The national unions had also shown up. People were still protesting around the square and the capitol. There was a huge amount of positive energy.

Inside was stuffy and hot from the crowd of people everywhere. I decided I would look for the ta union to see what I should do. I finally found someone who said they needed people to sit up on the third floor. So I went up and sat down. An older woman came and sat next to me. I asked her "What are we doing here anyway?"
"You mean you haven't heard?"
"No, I just got here."
"The democratic senators have fled and Walker has sent the state troopers to catch them and bring them back. We're sitting in so that they can't force them in."
I would be lying if I didn't have my reservations about this. But I was sitting in front of the gallery of the Senate, so if they did find them and bring them back, they would also have to toss them down onto floor for their votes to count. So I was betting they weren't going to come up there.
One cop came and told us that we needed to clear a path. One ta said "Are you going to arrest me if I don't?" The cop said "No." The aclu or afl-cio brought us pamphlets on what to do if we're asked to move, how to go limp, what phone number to call to get a lawyer. Me and the physics grad students had already decided that we were going to do what the cops told us, so it's a good thing it never came to that.

We sat and sang and chanted and stood and danced and ate jalepeno hot dogs (I don't recommend the last one). I saw one altercation between a pro-union and anti-bill guy, which was quickly quelled by other pro-union people before the troopers got there.
Eventually I had to go to a meeting, which fortuitously coincided with the confirmation that the senators were indeed over the border and we didn't need to sit in. Matt spent 7-8 hours there that day. Crowds were suppose to be 20,000-30,000. People still spending the night. Warm weather.

Friday: Although the ta union called for another teach out, I felt that two days in a row was too much like an illegal strike and not pedagogically tenable for my class. The student government called for another walk out, so I walked with the students up from the library to the capitol. Things had gotten even bigger and more diverse. The anarchists and the wobblies had shown up, as well as more private sector unions and union members from other states, and side issues like pro-immigration, pro-choice, and pro-npr groups. There were rumors of Jesse Jackson. I decided that seeing the good reverend was an opportunity not to be missed so after my afternoon class I walked back up to the capitol with a friend of mine (since he is homosexual, I wanted to make a poster that said "Gays and Mormons United Against Walker" but he was too scared we'd end up on the front of the nyt). When we got there, JJ wasn't speaking yet, so we decided to check out inside. It was very loud and crazy - there were posters taped up everywhere, folk bands, mariachi music, and even capoeira. We decided to go up stairs to get a better look. Somehow we managed to be in the right place and the right time: the assembly let out and we and two other people were on the landing where the democratic legislators were exiting, so we shock or hi-fived most of them. We then went out and heard JJ speak and even got to sing "We Shall Overcome" with him. That's got to be on some bucket list. Matt got up there later that night and got some pictures of him when he was being interviewed for a cable news station. More people spend the night in the capitol. Crowd suppose to be 40,000. Still pretty warm.

Saturday: Matt left at 8am to get parking. Union rally at 10:30, tea party at 12:00. I got there at 10:30 after riding the bus with a taxi driver from Arizona. Also, our bus driver said he was already looking for a new job, since the gov has refused federal money for public transportation. While the Friday protest seemed to be beginning to fragment, this rally refocused the issue onto bargaining rights. Lots and lots of unions - teachers, nurses, corrections officers, firefighters, cops, teamsters, plumbers, construction workers, electricians, etc. There were more people from out of state. There were more signs addressing bargaining rights and the gov's lies and attacking his ties to corporate business, and fewer signs making hyperbolic historical comparisons. There were also alot of really funny and even silly signs that put everyone in a good mood.

We walked around the square while the tea party-ers had their rally. They had surprising few people there. We were chanting so much that I couldn't hear what their speakers were saying. We were also so many people that there was no beginning or end to the march (although I think that the firefighters with their bagpipes were suppose to be in front). After the tea-party ended, they marched out with the protection of police on horseback, but there were no major incidents. My only exchange with them was one who said "You should pay your fair share" to which I replied "Gladly!". That flustered him.

Some other German grads and I grabbed lunch and met some angry ladies from the bid M, including one who was married to German. We then tried to come up with clever signs. We settled on "I can haz bargaining rights", union written in Gothic ("thing", in case you're wondering), and another one I've now forgotten but involved "ur". We listened to the afternoon rally, which included vuvuzelas.

We waited in line to get inside the capitol because they were limiting the number of people by only allowing people in through two of the four entrances. When we got in, I was surprised at how calm it was, despite the fact that there were still many people and chanting and drums. But there weren't anywhere near the numbers that were in there on Thursday! We checked out the info center, which includes info on the bill, talking points, aclu legal info, afl-cio info, union chants and songs, the lost and found, food and drink donation center, a message board for lost parties and my favorite te "low-tech twitter" (a poster board with hand written updates and what's going on). Cellphone reception especially for the internet on the square these last few days has been slow with everyone trying to use it. So trying to figure out what was going on could be a bit of a challenge.

Since it was 6pm and Matt had walked his feet off for the third day in a row, we left and finally had our Valentine's Day dinner. Weather was cold but sunny. Crowds estimated at 70,000, with the pro-union protesters outnumbering the antis 32:1 (as one sign read, "Here we have keggers, not tea parties"). No arrests, some altercations but nothing serious - in other words, much less violence that your average badger football game!