There were representatives of many unions at Tuesday’s rally on the Capitol Square. Police and firefighters are exempt from the provisions contained in Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill regarding public employee unions, but Glen Malkmus Firefighters Local 414 Kenosha said it’s just a start. “We understand that this is a divide and conquer tactic being put forth by Governor Walker,” said Malkmus. And Craig Curtis with Iron Workers Local 383 in Madison suggested Walker may have bitten off more than he can chew. “I think he’s going down the wrong road trying to mess with the state unions, or any union for that matter,” said Curtis. “We’ve been around a long time.”
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Gary Knutson is a federal employee – a letter carrier from La Crosse. “This shoving things down peoples throats, and doing away with collective bargaining, that is just inciteful, and look at the crowd we got,” said Knutson. “I guess that’s what he wants. He wants to cause animosity and chaos.” Carl Bujanowski, President of the State Engineers Association, warned what will happen if Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill passes. “All of the private sector unions are going to fall,” Bujanowski warned. “Unions affect your life one way or another, from a historic point of view, all the way up today, whether you were around when it went down or not,” said Larry Jones, an engineer with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Jones said Walker’s actions have left state employees feeling “demoralized and demonized.”