from YES! Magazine:
Mahlon Mitchell: The Middle Class Needs to Stick Together
Firefighters weren't directly included in the anti-union bill that sparked the protests in Madison. Lieutenant Mahlon Mitchell on why they're taking to the streets, anyway.by Robby Mellinger
posted Mar 08, 2011
When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced his Budget Repair Bill on February 11, Lieutenant Mahlon Mitchell had been president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin for just short of a month. The bill, which eliminates collective bargaining rights (as well as many other rights and benefits) for nearly all of the state’s public employees, specifically excluded the firefighers’ union.
But Mitchell and the firefighters he represents say they feel just as involved as if their own rights had been on the chopping block. Firefighters have been a visible presence throughout the historic protests happening in Madison over the past three weeks; a fellow protester reports that, “in the large rotunda rallies, no other group draws such raucous cheers as the firefighters.” Firefighters and law enforcement (also excluded from the bill) have offered to share in the bill’s pay reductions (already agreed to by other union) in order to retain collective bargaining rights for all public employees and to prevent the lay-offs that Governor Walker has threatened.
Mitchell—the youngest and first African American president of the PFFW—represents 57 local departments and nearly 3,000 firefighters across the state. I spoke to him about why he and his fellow firefighters think Wisconsin's fight for workers' rights is their fight, too.
Robert Mellinger: How did you get involved in the firefighters’ union?
Mahlon Mitchell: I got hired here in the Madison fire department when I was nineteen years old. I've always wanted to be a fire fighter, even as a young kid. My older brother is a firefighter in Rockford, Illinois; my younger brother is a firefighter in St. Paul, Minnesota. So it's kind of in our blood, you could say. I've been here in the Madison fire department for fourteen years now. .............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/the-middle-class-needs-to-stick-together-interview-with-mahlon-mitchell
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