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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 18, 2011
CONTACT: Charles Monaco, Press and New Media Specialist, Progressive States Network, 212 680 3116 x115
Progressive States Network Statement on Assault on Workers' Rights in Wisconsin
New York, NY -- Today, Progressive States Network released the following statement in support of the actions of progressive state legislators in Wisconsin:
Progressive States Network joins state legislators around the nation in supporting the courageous and historic actions of many Wisconsin state senators in recent days. As Wisconsinites defend their state from an assault on workers, we stand in solidarity with workers and state legislators across the nation who know that similar attacks are likely to arrive in their states soon.
At a time of historic income inequality and job losses in America, conservatives have clearly decided to launch a destructive ideological crusade targeting the rights of workers in statehouses across the nation. In Wisconsin, this assault has come in the form of an all-out attack on the rights of public workers to collectively bargain -- rights that people fought and died to attain throughout our nation’s history. This attack has been justified by its backers as being a necessary response to a budget ‘crisis,' yet their proposals save the state almost nothing, and the 'crisis' itself was provoked by passing tax giveaways.
Make no mistake: this coordinated nationwide effort is an attack on the middle class that is part of an ongoing conservative agenda in the states that serves only the wealthy and big business.
Across the nation, it is becoming clear that conservatives have no interest in policies that will actually create jobs or rebuild prosperity in our states. Progressive States Network will continue to work with legislators and advocates across the fifty states who are advancing a different vision for our nation’s future -- one that will ensure the economic security of the vast majority of middle- and working-class Americans who have been left out of the economic recovery.
About Progressive States Network:
Progressive States Network [1] is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the work of progressive state legislators around the country and to the passage of state legislation that delivers on issues the issues that matter to working families: strong wage standards and workplace freedom, balancing work and family responsibilities, health care for all, smart growth and clean energy, tax and budget reform, clean and fair elections, and technology investments to bridge the digital divide.
In early 2011, Progressive States Network released its Blueprint for Economic Security 2011 [2], comprising a series of messages and specific policy solutions that state legislators and advocates across the country can advance to help build security into three broad issue areas that affect people’s everyday lives: our state economies, our jobs, and our health.