‘It’s Shameful That Our Governor Has Shown That He Has No Integrity’

In the wake of the political unrest currently happening in the state of Wisconsin, 14 Democratic Senators have left their seats as a sign of protest against the union bill proposed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker. The bill will cut collective bargaining—the tool by which public unions secure pay and benefits—for most public employees and calls into question the security of worker rights. 

GlobalGrind had the opportunity to speak with Wisconsin State Sen. Lena Taylor, one of the Democratic Wisconsin 14, who gave us her take on the volatile situation. According to Taylor, the protests are not only about unions, but affect all wage earners, voters and especially, young people. Read on for more.

Senator Taylor, how are things?

You know, we are standing strong with Wisconsin, citizens and workers…it’s shameful that our governor has shown that he has no integrity, he has our state for sale with his special interest groups. He has denied the people of Wisconsin, and his party have denied individual—I don’t know if you know the whole story, but first of all they denied people an opportunity to sign up to testify at the hearing of the deal.

Did they?

Then they cut off testimony at 3:00 in the morning so as the Democrats we kept the testimony going. Then, most recently, they’ve been saying, “Oh we need to come back and do our job, we need to come back and vote.” But in the assembly they cut off the ability, and they ran it through really quickly so that our democrat colleagues who were there didn’t even get a chance to vote.

Wow.

They denied 28 individuals and three others who were not Democrats a chance to vote and it looks like—four people who were Republicans voted against it—so it really looks like our being away and all of the people there in the Capitol. it has made a difference at least in some of the Republicans who did not want to be caught voting for this.

They ran it through the way that they did because I think they were concerned that they may not have the vote.

What was it like when you all made the decision to leave the state. How did that go down?

It was very rapid. Our leader called a meeting, we came that morning, an he said, “I think we should leave.” We said, “we’re going.”

Did you bring enough clothes for the time you’ve been away? Or are they sending you supplies?

It’s funny that you ask, because I personally sit on the finance committee, so I packed because I had to stay over on Tuesday night because I knew finance would go longer, and I had something the next day and would not be able to drive home and drive back. I stayed over two nights in Madison and I had enough clothes to do that, so when I came and he said we needed to go I had those clothes. I had worn them, but of course I was not prepared to go longer than a day or so. I went back to Milwaukee to get some more clothes. If I was smart I would’ve brought more because they told us, “Bring the clothes you wore and bring some more.” I went and got more and I coordinated for my son to come with me.

What happens if you go back to the state?

Really, there’s no authority, no arresting authority that they have for us. But I think it puts people in a position to make more of a scene, put our families more in jeopardy. I don’t want my son to be in the midst of that.

We’ve watched from New York and around the country dramatic scenes in Madison. What are you most proud of from your constituents and from the people of Wisconsin?

Showing up and being peaceful and respectful but exercising their First Amendment right. I’ve never seen such a thing before in my life, the number of people that were at the Capitol was just phenomenal. And the other thing I really, really like is this song that someone wrote, it’s called the “Wisconsin 14.”

(Laughs) You like that?

I think it’s so cute.

Tell us about that and tell us about your constituents in Milwaukee and the suffering they’ve gone through over the past three years since the recession.

Well, let me start there. My constituents have been suffering, if I can be candid, longer than that. We have, according to studies by Professor at one of our local universities, Dr. Bavain, approximately 50 percent unemployment among black men. We lead in the nation as the lowest reading force among African-American children, which is why I proposed an idea on education reform because it’s not acceptable. We need to do something different. And that wasn’t a popular choice that I made among those who could not see the entire issue in the way that it is playing out now. Because this is essentially the same thing. So my constituents have been hurting for quite some time and this is just really an opportunity to take a stand and say the middle class is important. That’s really what this fight is. And democracy is important because people need to be involved. The other piece that I think people need to get is that – Rachel Maddow, she explained it pretty thoroughly to talk about the individuals who are involved in elections – there won’t be anybody except people who exclusively support Republicans. So this is important for my constituent because last I checked, I’m always, but always, but always, fighting against policies that my colleagues do that allow discrimination, that don’t help people of color, including the bill they just did to change commerce to hurt disabled veterans, women, and minority businesses. So this is huge, this is huge. So my stance is that this isn’t just about unions, this is about whether or not as an African-American who is only the 1,000th senator to be sworn into our state in 160 plus years, only the 20th woman, only the 5th African-American, only the 2nd African-American woman, and the only African-American woman in the senate that, as part of a people and a gender that has had to fight for rights, I could not sit down while they trampled and steam rolled over Wisconsin workers rights. I couldn’t sit back and just let – I had to stand, I had no option. And they’re trying to recall me in my district with people from Utah. They come in and try to do a recall in my district. My response is that my record will speak for itself. And we’ll cross those bridges when we get there and I’ll see them at the ballot box.

Let me ask you on the flip side, there is a belief that the governor campaigned on this issue and we knew that this was what he was going to do and he won, so why can’t he get this done?

Well, that’s a lie. He didn’t campaign on it. Never, not once, did he say he was going to take away worker’s rights. You can go to the Journal Centennial, which is a paper in the South Eastern Wisconsin area. They call themselves the Milwaukee Journal Centennial but they never do anything that supports Milwaukee so they need to give us our name back. But, anyway, they did a fact check on whether or not it was true, whether or not he said this during his campaign trail. And they basically said it was false. In addition to that, the candidates who ran against him, who were literally with him all the time – now let me be clear I ran against him for County Executive, OK? In that race, he never said he was going to Union bust and the person who ran against him next is our Mayor of the city of Milwaukee and he never said this so it’s a lie. And what you’ll find with this governor and this bill – if you just go and look there are like, at least 10 things that he lied on since we’ve been gone.

The President said during his campaign in 2010 that anyone who had a strike for collective bargaining he would get chosen and join the picket line. What would you say to the President now?

I appreciate that the President would come out to support. I also understand that the President, you know, is multi-tasking a number of issues, including what’s happening at the federal level and needs to be conscious of that. But I appreciate that the Archbishop, the Pope, the Packers have all come out for us. So I’m just looking for our governor to do his job and do what he’s asked to do. In December he asked to negotiate these contracts, but he refuses to come to the table and negotiate with them. Quit lying to the people. I need him to do his job. You know, if the governor does his job nobody else has to come and say a thing. More than a half a million people have come and spoken.

Why should young people in this country care about what’s going on in Wisconsin?

Because it’s their future. It’s the future of the American Dream, it’s the future of Democracy, whether or not you want there to just be one voice in politics because no one else can compete against big money. This is about much more than the Unions, this about our future. This is about whether or not people should have a right to petition our government and be heard. And frankly, I’m half-way through my life but they’re going to be the leaders of tomorrow and if they’re not engaged now they won’t know. If there has ever been a time for a revolution, if there has ever been a time for people to stand up and be heard, that time is now.

Thank you for your time.

Well, I appreciate you giving a voice to me. I hope you inspire to be involved and we appreciate the people who are out there with the Wisconsin 14. And let me say this to you, do you know the people who have been holding down the fort for us in the state?

Who’s that?

The young people, in the capitol. The students, they have been sleeping in and camping in and our governor is going to kick them out of the capitol.