Unions Are the Core of Progressive Politics in Wisconsin

Unions Are the Core of Progressive Politics in Wisconsin

Unions Are the Core of Progressive Politics in Wisconsin

According to John Nichols, the Republicans’ efforts to curb workers’ rights is about attacking the public sphere and public education.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

As public workers and their allies continue to occupy the Wisconsin State Capitol in opposition to Republican Governor Scott Walker’s bid to strip workers of collective bargaining rights, The Nation‘s John Nichols joined KGO AM810 radio in San Francisco to talk about the future for the protests.

Nichols explains that unions are the "core of progressive politics" in Wisconsin. The Republicans’ efforts to curb workers’ rights isn’t just about damaging a force that routinely votes Democrat. It’s about "damaging forces that defend the public sphere" and public education.

Those protesting, Nichols says, have majority support in Wisconsin polls right now. Players from the Green Bay Packers and farmers have chosen to stand with unions.

—Kevin Gosztola

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x