NEHAWU OFFERS SOLIDARITY TO THE PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS OF THE STATE OF WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

NEHAWU offers its solidarity to the public sector workers of the State of Wisconsin in the United States of America in their battle against Governor Scott Walker and his cronies who have declared war on them and their children. Governor Walker has proposed a budget repair bill that will address the state's budget shortfall by forcefully limiting collective bargaining for most state and local government employees.

This abominable attack on the public sector workers to offset the effects of the capitalist induced economic crisis is unacceptable and needs to be condemned by all. Under this proposed bill home health care workers, family childcare workers and university employees will be stripped of their right to bargain. What is even more disconcerting is the fact that the governor has threatened to unleash the state's security agencies against workers who protest against these reckless proposals. We strongly condemn this attack against the workers' rights and call on the governor to discontinue this immoral assault.

There is a deepening offensive against public sector workers and the working class in general by those who want to see to it that the working class pays for the reckless neoliberal policies that resulted in the 2008 economic crisis.Neo-liberal Western governments are gradually promoting and implementing economic measures that erode or limit the rights of the working people like the deregulation of labour relations, the increase in the retirement age and cuts on social expenditure. All of these measures are worsening the pressure on working people and promoting the interests of big capital by capitalist indebted politicians who have shown that they are prepared to declare war against their own citizens in order to advance the interest of their paymasters.

These aggressive tactics of the capitalists and their puppet governments/politicians means that workers have a responsibility to be vigilant and united in order to prevent the gradual erosion of their historic gains that were brought about by sweat and blood. Workers have seen their tax money used to bail out and pacify big multinationals that pay their senior managers obscene amounts of money and at the same time their working conditions are worsening by the day.

The Tunisians, Egyptians and the Libyans have provided the much needed inspiration by kicking out the greedy and exploitative regimes who had sold them and their respective country's resources to the capitalists. The public sector workers of the State of Winsconsin need to know that the greed of capitalists is insatiable and their puppet politicians will not stop until they have enslaved the working class. Workers therefore owe it to themselves and their children to stop this assault on their rights now or the working class children of that state will inherit nothing but slavery. 

An injury to one is an injury to all!

Statement issued by NEHAWU Secretariat Office, March 1 2011

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