Politics
LA Union says supports Wisconsin govt employees
Updated: 2011-02-23 14:07
(Xinhua)
![]() Protestors fill the rotunda outside of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's office while he holds a fireside chat at the state Capitol in Madison Wisconsin Feb 22, 2011. Wisconsin Governor Walker, whose bid to reduce public employee union bargaining power has triggered public protests, said on Sunday he expected Democrats who oppose his plan to return to the state and debate the issue this week. [Photo/Agencies]
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The delegation will depart Los Angeles International Airport before dawn and arrive in the the capital city of Madison about 1 pm, said LACEF.
"I'm going to Wisconsin because it's about preserving America's freedoms and the middle class," said Tom DeMoore, an electrician who is traveling with the group.
Ken White, a member of the group, said he felt it was important to make the trip.
"As a city bus driver, I understand we have a fiscal crisis, and public employees all over this country are making sacrifices, but the Governor of Wisconsin is using the fiscal crisis to destroy the right of public employees to collectively bargain. That's wrong."
Tens of thousands of union activists have gathered outside the capitol building in Madison to protest Republican Governor Scott Walker's effort to reduce union health and pension benefits, as well as limit collective bargaining powers.
Those in support of the governor include Tea Party members, who also have gathered on the square, according to Fox News.
Labor leaders have already agreed to the cuts, but they are fighting to retain the right to negotiate employment terms as a bloc.
Democratic state senators are staying away from the capitol, making a vote on the measure impossible.
Also on Tuesday, Walker said he might lay off 1,500 employees if his bill ending public-employee union collective bargaining is not passed this week.
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