VSEA Member Speaks For Thousands At Montpelier Solidarity Rally

In Montpelier, supporters waved banners and chanted in support of the workers who could lose collective bargaining rights under legislation proposed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

The legislation is being delayed by Democratic members of that state’s senate who have gone AWOL to strip the Republicans of the quorum of members needed to vote on the controversial law.

Many members at the rally expressed concern that if the legislation in Wisconsin is passed it could have a domino effect for public employees around the country. Legislation similar to that in Wisconsin is being considered in Ohio and Indiana.

“It’s important for people all over to gather in support of solidarity,” said Progressive Sen. Anthony Polina from Washington County.

“In tough economic times public workers get pay cuts, people in need get service cuts and the wealthy get tax cuts,” Polina said.

“Being anti-union is anti-American,” Polina said, adding he is not only a champion of unions, but a champion of the organized worker.

“The way to find a solution is for the people to unite and find their voice,” said Polina to the cheering crowd. “Organization is what America is about.”

The event in Montpelier, which was organized over the last two days by Laurel Green of Brattleboro, was not the only one in the state as people also gathered in Burlington.

Green said she had no idea she’d be organizing the event — she just began by looking for carpool options for an event she heard might happen — and when she heard no one had filed for a permit to have the rally, she decided to.

The first speaker at the rally, Steve Croft of Brattleboro, spoke about the American dream.

“Once liberty is in motion, it can not be stopped,” Croft said. “We need to set and reach goals that are sustainable, but we need them to be sustainable for everyone.”

JoAnne Edwards, a Vermont State College Union member and librarian at Johnson State College, spoke about her experience organizing bus drivers in New Jersey who worked in “deplorable conditions and in buses that would not pass inspection.”

“I am proud to support our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin,” said Leslie Mathews, of Northfield, who is a Vermont State Employee Association member and a volunteer at the Vermont Workers Center.

“Vermont has lost 10 percent of its public workforce and the people of Vermont are suffering,” said Mathews.

Mathews said she was concerned that a bill that has been introduced in the legislature here could strip the teachers of the right to strike.

Dottie Morris, of Bellows Falls, energized the crowd as she spoke about her father’s triumphs as the first black man to join the American Postal Workers Union in Louisiana.

“The most recent crisis in Wisconsin made me say ‘we can not be snookered any longer,’” Morris said.

“We cannot let ‘divide and conquer’ be the rule of the day,” Morris said.