Firefighters and Milwaukee Dems Stand Together Against Budget Bill

Milwaukee-area firefighters stood in solidarity with other public employees at risk of losing their collective bargaining rights Saturday afternoon at a press conference hosted by Milwaukee-area Democrats.

About a dozen firefighters joined members of the Milwaukee Democratic Legislative Caucus in sounding off against Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget repair bill in front of the South Milwaukee Firehouse Saturday. The bill, which would strip public employee unions of the bulk of their collective bargaining rights, is part of the governor's plan to fix a projected $3.6 billion budget deficit in state spending this year. The bill does not affect firefighters and other public safety workers, but firefighters have protested the bill in Madison and across the state as an act of union solidarity.

Jason Hempel, a Caledonia firefighter and an executive board member of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, said other public employees deserve the same rights as they do.

“It’s really an attack on collective bargaining the governor is pushing,” he said.

State Rep. David Cullen, D-Milwaukee, said Walker is not telling the truth about the bill. He said Walker has tried to market the bill as a way to save money, but when union leaders offered to meet the governor’s demands, Walker insisted on moving forward with the bill. He said the move is indicative of Walker’s end goal of breaking up unions.

“This is about breaking up unions. This is about politics. This is about taking away rights from people like our firefighters,” Cullen said. “I think the public needs to understand their governor is just not telling the truth.”

State Rep. Sandy Pasch, D-Whitefish Bay, said state senators will remain outside of the state until their demands are taken seriously. She said the walkout is giving the Democrats time to inform the public about some of the lesser-known details in the bill, such and a loss in federal funding as a result of transit workers losing their collective bargaining rights.

“It’s a very painful decision that these senators have had to make, but they are doing it for the people of Wisconsin,” she said. “It is the only way to slow down one of the most egregious attacks on liberty our state has seen.”

When asked about Walker’s claim that the walkout is nothing more than a stunt, Pasch said Walker is doing little to build consensus himself, as he refused to meet with Assembly Democrats yesterday and has also refused to meet with labor leaders.

“He has done stunt after stunt since he’s been in office, from putting up signs on the border of our state saying we are open for business and he does something that really hurts business to proposing to hold a budget address in a private business as opposed to the people’s house under the dome,” she said. “He is a master stuntman, and if he really wants to get serious about bringing the people of Wisconsin together and keeping this the good state that it is, he will sit down and start bargaining…”

The Assembly is expected to take up the bill when it reconvenes Tuesday. Walker is also expected to address both the Senate and the Assembly on Tuesday.