Thousands protest cuts in Wisconsin budget

By Monica Davey

New York Times

MADISON, Wis. — As four game wardens awkwardly stood guard, protesters, scores deep, crushed into a corridor leading to the governor’s office here Wednesday to protest some of the most far-reaching budget cutback proposals in the nation. Screams of “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” echoed throughout the Capitol building.

Enlarge photo

Narayan Mahon, The New York Times Protesters flood the rotunda of the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday. Thousands of public employees and supporters converged to object to a proposal to cut their benefits.

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The noise level in the Rotunda rose to the level of a chain saw, and many Madison teachers joined the protest by calling in sick in such numbers that the district had to cancel classes.

Behind closed doors, Scott Walker, the Republican who has been Wisconsin’s governor for about six weeks, calmly described his intent to forge ahead with plans to cut public workers’ benefits and sharply curtail collective bargaining rights. Yes, some angry workers had surrounded his state car Tuesday and started pounding on it. Yes, others had surrounded his home in Wauwatosa.

Walker said he had no other options. “I’m trying to balance a budget,” he said.

The full Legislature could begin voting on his proposal as early as today.

Walker is likely to be joined by other state leaders who are forced to take similarly dramatic steps, particularly on matters of state workers, pension and unions.

William B. Gould IV, a labor law professor at Stanford University and former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, said, “I think it’s quite possible that if they’re successful in doing this, a lot of other Republican governors will emulate this.”

With both chambers of the state Legislature dominated by Republicans after November’s election, Walker’s notion had largely drawn praise from those controlling the Legislature.

Workers said they were frightened of what the cuts would mean for their family budgets, particularly for those already struggling. The changes call for them to pay 5.8 percent of their salary toward their pensions, much more than now, and at least 12.6 percent of their health care premiums, double their current contribution.

They also seemed worried about the lasting impact of the proposed changes to the way public employee unions operate in the state.

Aside from police and firefighters, raises for workers would be limited to the consumer price index, unless the public agreed to a higher raise in a referendum.

Most unions would have to hold annual elections to keep their organizations intact and would lose the ability to have union dues deducted from state paychecks — making it more difficult, some here say, for unions to survive.

More than 13,000 protesters gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday for a 17-hour public hearing on the measure. Thousands more came Wednesday.

Prisons, which are staffed by unionized guards who would lose their bargaining rights under the plan, were operating without any unusual absences, according to a Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.