Rally chants: “Kill the bill!”

• Feb. 16 protest rally

A Feb. 16 protest rally at UW-River Falls encouraged people to contact their legislators and encourage them to vote no on the proposed "budget-repair" bill.

Talk about it

Protestors packed into the Falcon’s Nest at the UW-River Falls University Center the afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 16 for an hour-long protest rally against a proposed budget-repair bill that all but eliminates union collective bargaining plus asks public-sector employees to pay more toward their health insurance and pension plans.

Several teachers and union leaders spoke to the crowd, as well as a student and others affected by the potential changes. Governor Scott Walker introduced the bill and pushes for a vote on it by the end of the week.

Walker has said the proposed changes are the only way to deal with the state’s huge budget deficit; without them, there would be layoffs and cuts to benefits for kids and the elderly.

The crowd at UW-RF yesterday chanted, “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Walker’s bill has got to go?”

Various speakers from Wisconsin and Minnesota, including Education Minnesota, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, UW-River Falls and many teachers told the crowd that Wisconsin has a proud 50-year history of collective bargaining.

They said Walker’s bill is a bad idea and that, “We’re about negotiations…we want collective bargaining.”

Some referred to it as an attack on the middle class – as a war declared against public employees in Wisconsin. One said, “Don’t balance the budget on the backs of those who care for your children.”

Many speakers repeated Walker’s phone number then encouraged rally attendees to call, e-mail and otherwise “badger” not only the governor but also Senator Sheila Harsdorf and Representatives Dean Knudson and John Murtha.

Speakers announced more rallies – 7-8:30 a.m. Feb. 17 and 18 on Cascade near the university, as well as noon on Feb. 17.

Tags: uw river falls, government, education, k-12, politics, wisconsin