I'm a Wisconsin Correctional Officer. Today I attended a rally at the state capitol in Madison. I've posted some pics and video with some thoughts of my own.
I arrived at the capitol with a group of friends and co-workers a little before 10:00am.
The weather was overcast and drizzly, about 40° F. I was wearing my woolies and jeans with a sweatshirt, watch cap and a hoody.
Our union leadership briefed us going in. We were told that the teachers union was planning some civil disobedience and that our presence and support were appreciated.
Nevertheless, Wisconsin Correctional staff are prohibited by law from certain job actions. If we participate in a strike, sick-out or any other civil disobedience related to our jobs, we can be summarily fired for cause. Our role here was to make lots of noise and stay out of the way.
When we came through the doors, the noise and heat were already notable. We joined a steady stream of Union workers and supporters as we made our way down the corridor to the rotunda. The teachers were packed in with drummers chanting the call and response: "What's disgusting? Union-busting!" With a final word of caution from my Local president, I ventured up to the balconies overlooking the rotunda with camera in hand. By this time I had taken my hoody off and stashed in my backpack.
When I got upstairs, the chant had shifted to "This is what democracy looks like!"
I gently nudged my way through the throng, politely asking if I could get up to the railing to take some pictures and then get out of the way. Everyone seemed very pleased to accommodate me and I was soon at the rail. The surging vitality of the crowd made what little hair I have on my head stand on end.
By the time I started shooting video, the sweat was rolling off me. The video doesn't do justice to the noise level. I wear a hearing aid and it was feeding back and the damper kept shutting off and on. My hands were shaking as I held the camera out over the rail; Hey, I told you the video was going to be raw. (The rally organizers were not allowing signs on sticks. Even if I had brought a tripod, I would have had to leave it outside.)
No more excuses:
I wandered around and shot more video and pics but after about an hour, I was getting lightheaded. It had been about three hours since I'd eaten and I could feel that my blood sugar was wavering. I ducked back downstairs and found a men's room. I ducked into a stall, took off my woolies & sweatshirt and stashed them in my pack. There was a constant patter of guys throwing out anti-Walker jibes across the stalls and down the line of urinals and I added a bit of my own smart-assery. From there I sought out "quiet" corridor to retrieve a sandwich and a can of diet lemonade from my pack. Fed and refreshed, I waded back into the fray, never noticing that my sweaty red t-shirt was now clearly visible. Surrounded by teachers in red shirts, I was herded down corridor by one of their group leaders. She was telling us to pack the hallway to prevent passage from a Senator's office to the Senate Chamber.
Working against the flow, I told her, "Sorry, Ma'am, I'm a prison guard and I can't be a part of this." She apparently knew about the strictures we CO's are under and was totally cool about it. With a few words of solidarity, I ducked past her and began to bob and weave my way to the exit.
I went outside and broke out another sandwich, some plain slices of bread and a bottle of water. It was there that I met some college kids with a cute little woozle. He was a shepherd/terrier mix with just one eye. I asked his owner if I could give his pooch a bit of bread. He said go for it and told me the little fella's name was 'Falcon'.
Falcon gobbled up the chunks of bread I dropped as his owner and I chatted. When the bread was gone he made a play for the peanut butter sandwich in my other hand.
We laughed and bid each other good morning.
From there, I took a walk around the outside of the capitol and ran into some of my fellow CO's and some nurses and social workers who also work for the DOC. I had brought some extra food along and broke out some oranges to share. We munched and talked a little shop when one of my colleagues spied the approach of some firefighters. Now the police, and firefighters unions were specifically excluded from Governor Wanker's Union-busting budget bill. These guys could have stayed home on a cold rainy day, but here they were:
Cripes, I love those guys! Made my heart swell when they marched up.
In the pics below you'll see off-duty cops also supporting us, as well as some brothers and sisters from the private sector.
I couldn't get a pic of my favorite sign: "I thought Cairo would be warmer"
There it is folks. Thanks to all my fellow Kossacks for your support!