Wisconsin's "Union Bride" Tells Her Story - Joan Walsh/Salon

[WillyT]

Wisconsin's "union bride" tells her story
A Madison couple managed to work a pro-public worker rally into their busy wedding day. The bride explains why
BY JOAN WALSH
TUESDAY, MAR 8, 2011 13:09 ET



<snip>

After I wrote about the big Wisconsin rallies mostly ignored by the media on the weekend of Feb. 26, I got a charming photo from a woman who'd spent part of her wedding day, with her husband and wedding party, at that Saturday's protest against Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting. I tweeted the photo, and it made the rounds. I wanted to use it with my Wisconsin article Monday, and I asked the woman who sent it if she'd give me a little bit more information about herself, and why she chose to join the rally on her wedding day. When I got her fascinating reply, I couldn't imagine chopping it into a couple of sentences to identify her, so I asked if I could publish it here, and she agreed. Here it is:

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When the "budget repair bill" was first announced we first began to hear from many of our friends and family employed by the State about how drastic the cuts would be and then the provisions to remove collective bargaining became more widely known and we started to get involved. We spent several days marching at the Capitol in the weeks leading up to the rallies. We took a closer look at the bill and discovered the other dastardly provisions - selling off the state power plants in no-bid contracts, a tax incentive to build on wetlands, and dramatic cuts to Wisconsin's health care programs for low-income children and families. We were incredulous.

During the first two weeks after the bill was introduced, people were protesting around the clock. State Assembly Democrats held hearings 24 hours a day, for days on end. I testified at one of those hearings among teachers and state employees. I testified at 1:30 in the morning and the room was packed for the three hours I was there. There were special education teachers testifying with tears in their eyes that they needed their unions to protect them because sometimes they get injured on the job by the children they care for, and they need to know they will be taken care of. A Milwaukee teacher testified that she secretly visited a community food bank every week to feed her family of five, since her husband lost his union manufacturing job in 2009. The most amazing part about that story was that her fellow teachers who traveled with her to Madison did not know her secret. The whole room erupted in a standing ovation when she spoke. It was heartbreaking.

On the Tuesday before our wedding at a rally the firefighters union announced they would be sleeping in the Capitol to protest the bill, so I asked a few friends from the wedding party to sleep over too. We stayed the night, sleeping on the second floor of Capitol. It was quiet and peaceful at night and in the morning when the sun sparkled through the Capitol Dome it was truly beautiful.

So we have been there almost every day to show our support along with our family and friends. It couldn't have been more natural for us to be there on our wedding day. That morning before my hair appointment, I grabbed a bunch of the posters we already had up in our window, and we made a few more as we were getting ready. And we sent text messages to invite people attending the wedding to join us. Around 2:30 PM our whole group walked to the rally from the hotel where we had planned to meet for photos. We loved being at the rally - and it seemed like the crowd really enjoyed it too. After the protest we went to take some more traditional wedding party photos at the Memorial Union, which later hosted our reception, and then we made it to the Pres House for our wedding ceremony at 5:00 PM, which was truly beautiful.

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Link: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/politics/2011/03/08/wisconsin_union_bride_tells_her_story

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[snacker]

1. I LOVE this story!!! :) n/t

[WillyT]

2. Me Too !!!

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