One Long Island take on Wisconsin
Charlene Obernauer, leader of the Long Island chapter of the not-for-profit Jobs With Justice organization, says in her blog that workers in New York -- and on Long Island — are “inspired” to avoid a Wisconsin-style labor relations meltdown.
“In all of New York, and especially on Long Island, which has the fourth largest labor movement in the country and is arguably the most powerful legislative district of New York State, workers are inspired,” Obernauer writes. The Long Island group is based in Hauppauge.
“Protests that were once despair-ridden with the fear of inevitable layoffs are reinvigorated with new hope.
“But this time, hope isn't being placed in politicians. This time, hope is coming from the power of the people and their willingness to fight.”
Obernauer says, “In Wisconsin and all across the country, the middle class is under attack.”
The result, for workers, might be “to go back to the 1920s and get rid of weekends, sick days, and vacation.”
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