For an All-Out Mobilization to stop Walker in his tracks!
Prepare for a one-day public sector strike

Feb 17, 2011

This is an outrage! Governor Walker's plan to strip state workers of collective bargaining rights is nothing short of an attempt to effectively break the public sector unions. Working people and their unions are not the cause of the economic crisis and fiscal woes of the state. The bankers, Wall Street speculators and corporate politicians are to blame, so stop scapegoating unions. Make the super-rich pay for their own crisis!

The attack is not just on unionized state workers. It is an attack on all working people and youth. If they can beat back the state workers, it’s open season on all workers jobs, wages, benefits, future pensions and on public services.

If today's demonstration is not enough to stop Governor Walker, it should be the launching pad for an all-out mobilization which stops at nothing. We must take enormous inspiration from the heroic and determined struggle of the Tunisian and Egyptian people who would not give up until their voices were heard.

Preparations must begin for a mobilization which will stop business as usual. This means being prepared for a one-day public sector strike if necessary. The public sector unions should issue a call to all working people to join a mass demonstration on that day and for mass student walkouts to shut down their schools.

Even if strike action is not legal for all state workers we must remember that the unions were built in the first place by struggles which often defied anti-union laws. The right to strike must be defended and extended. If we're not prepare to take a stand now when will we especially once the power of unions has been stripped away?

The stakes are extremely high. If this anti-union legislation passes it will embolden those seeking to attack unions elsewhere, but if it is defeated it will give confidence to workers across country to stand up. That is why a national call to mobilize the labor movement must be made to pour as much union resources as possible into this central battle for the future of the union movement.
Wisconsin has become in the center stage in what is a full-scale attack on the public sector all across the country. Other state governments are also targeting not only wages and benefits but collective bargaining rights as well. This is the naked agenda of the ruling class and their corporate servants in office. The capitalist system is in deep crisis, and they want to solve it on our backs by steamrolling over all obstacles including unions.

It is up to us to stop these attacks. We can have no faith in the Democratic Party. Why haven't they stood up to the lies of the Tea Party and Right-wing Republicans? Why did they make the bipartisan agreement for tax cuts for super-wealthy? Why are teachers unions in the cross-hairs of Obama's Secretary of Education Arne Duncan? What happened to EFCA? The Democrats with all their nice rhetoric are no friend of working people.

It's time that we build a political alternative to the two parties of big business. Campaigns should be launched across the country to stop the budget cuts and defend jobs, services and workers’ rights. Out of these campaigns we could run our own independent candidates as the first step towards forming a new party that gives a real voice to workers and youth and fights for our interests.

The time is now to begin the fightback. The Egyptian workers have shown is it possible to stand up to injustice everywhere. If you agree with the ideas in this leaflet please contacts us and we can discuss how to organize a united struggle to fight for our rights and our future.