Madison Troublemakers School

Union busting, the governor's attack on public employees, concession demands, layoffs, threats to Social Security and pensions, increased health insurance costs, contracting out, furloughs, wage freezes, free trade deals, tax giveaways to the rich, tuition increases, wars, charter schools, sustained high unemployment, runaway shops, Right to Work...did we leave anything out?

Working people are under assault and the assault will continue until we put an end to it. The protests at the Capitol have shown what working people are made of. That’s the idea behind the Madison Labor Notes Troublemakers School. How do we build on the protests, protect what we have—and lay the foundation to fight for more? Led by experienced labor activists, our workshops will explore strategies to fight back and give you the hands-on skills to make it happen.

The idea is not just to talk about problems for a day and then go home, but to come up with specific plans in some areas, so that we can go out Monday morning and get to work organizing to build on what we've done. There will be ample time to assess what we've gained through our unprecedented activism of the last month.

Read here what happened at the School.

The Saturday sessions are now full, as of Monday, March 27. Please plan to attend on Friday night.

Thursday night, March 31, don't miss the dedication of the Madison Labor History Mural, with a one-man play: "Jimmy Higgins: A Life in the Labor Movement." Poster here.

Workshops include:

• Public Sector Workers and How to Fight Back (twice)
• Organizing Contract Campaigns in the Great Recession
• Labor-Campus-Community Solidarity
• Organizing: Nontraditional Approaches
• Immigration, Racism, Labor Movement History
• Art for Mobilization
• Media Engagement and Your Local
• Econ 101: Is Capitalism Working for Workers?
• Workers: Know Your Rights!
• Labor’s Electoral Strategy: Are We Getting What We Paid For?
• Building a Member-to-Member Union

Don’t miss the opening session Friday at 5 p.m.: labor poetry, cartoons and photos, followed by “State of the Unions” with historian Peter Rachleff, Labor Notes founder Jane Slaughter, author Joe Burns, SCFL President Jim Cavanaugh, and journalist Steve Early. Download a poster here.

Interpretation and childcare will be provided Saturday if requested at least two weeks in advance (see registration form below).

If you have questions, or would like a presentation at your local union meeting, contact David Poklinkoski at (608) 770-8896, ibew2304[at]att[dot]net, or Steve Masar at (608) 338-9948, samasar[at]facstaff.wisc[dot]edu.