Indianapolis, Day Four
Ten thousand demonstrated against anti-worker legislation in Demonstrators were elated that the Democrats have pledged to stay Listed were a bill to limit teacher bargaining rights to pay and benefits only, and a bill to undermine construction worker pay by exempting “I’m so happy the Democrats walked out and aren’t allowing this to go The halls were filled with music and chanting from 10 am to 4 pm on Amy Sutcliff, a postal worker from northern Indiana, said the Anderson and Sutcliff were among 120 who signed up to testify Monday Give $10 a month or more and get our "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt. “They said, 'we have to do this fast,'” Anderson said. The workers The next day, Democratic legislators left for Urbana, Illinois, Workers intend to protest through the weekend, with union bus trips “At this point it’s up to the Republicans to come to their senses,” In a bizarre twist, on Wednesday Indiana’s attorney general fired Jeff As in Madison, the protests in Indianapolis have been civil and
Indianapolis today, the same number as yesterday, packing the
statehouse and cheering when the Indiana House of Representatives was
once again unable to achieve a quorum.
away, and dropped “Hall of Fame” banners from a third floor balcony
to honor them. On the other side of the hall, they unfurled a “Hall of
Shame” banners listing anti-worker legislation under consideration.
many projects from prevailing wage laws, among others.
forward. Hopefully the Republicans realize the damage they’re trying
to do,” said steelworker Herb Anderson, who traveled from Fort Wayne
for the demonstrations.
Wednesday, and again today. “It’s been exciting, thrilling to see so
many different unions come together,” said Anderson, who works at
B.F. Goodrich in Woodburn.
cross-union interaction was great, and she was learning a lot from
talking to people in other unions. “You see steelworkers talking to
electricians, sharing ideals, talking about what works for them,” she
said.
against a right-to-work bill. But the committee leadership cut off
debate after three hours and sent the bill to the full House, leaving
93 people yet to speak.
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from northern Indiana had braved bad weather and icy road conditions
to get to the statehouse. They were incensed that their voices were
not heard.
leaving the House without a quorum. The right-to-work bill hit a
deadline and was declared dead. But today HouseRepublicans tried to change
the rules to extend the time the bill could be considered. It’s
unclear whether the rules change is valid without a quorum. Legislators
don’t expect to take more action until Monday.
planned from northern Indiana tomorrow despite an expected 6 to 10
inches of snow.
Anderson said.
Cox, a deputy attorney general, for tweeting that police should “use
live ammunition” to clear protesters out of the Wisconsin statehouse.
The identity of the tweet’s author was discovered by a Mother Jones
magazine reporter, Adam Weinstein, who then engaged in a Twitter-based
dialog with Cox in which Cox told Weinstein, “You're damned right I
advocate deadly force.”
friendly, if loud, with schoolchildren taking field-trip tours of the
Capitol in the middle of the demonstrations.
