As recall petitioning begins in Wisconsin this week, the Battleground Bulletin examines the plans to recall Governor Scott Walker and three anti-worker state senators.

Recall Season Opens in Wisconsin

Click here for information about the Recall Walker Kickoff Rally led by We Are Wisconsin and other progressive allies from the Badger State

November 15 marked the official beginning to the recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The recall effort is led by United Wisconsin, described on its website as “a grassroots coalition of more than 200,000 Wisconsinites & organizations who have united to recall Governor Scott Walker.” At midnight on Tuesday, United Wisconsin held more than 100 events across the state to commemorate the official start to the Walker recall petition drive.

United Wisconsin plans to use a series of events, and other battle-tested tactics such as drive-thru petitioning, to achieve their goal of collecting approximately 9,000 signatures each day. This Saturday at 1 p.m., the We Are Wisconsin coalition will hold a recall Walker kick-off rally outside the state capitol.

Walker opponents have until January 17, 2012 to collect 540,208 valid signatures to put Walker on the ballot. Accoring to an early November poll by Wisconsin Public Radio and St. Norbert College, 58 percent of Wisconsinites believe Walker should be recalled—including 24 percent of Badger State Republicans.

In addition to the Walker recall, petitions have been filed to recall four of the Republican state senators who voted for the governor’s anti-worker budget last year—State Senators Terry Moulton (SD-23 – Chippewa Falls), Pam Galloway (SD-29 – Wausau) and Van Wanggaard (SD-21 – Racine). Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who is also facing a recall effort, has already said that his party plans to run “fake Democrats” in primaries in the targeted districts to give the incumbents more time to campaign. The state senate recall petition gathering will be run in tandem with the gubernatorial effort.

Although AFSCME is not directly behind the Walker recall effort, the union has urged AFSCME members to volunteer on the campaign. The presidents and executive directors of Wisconsin Councils 40, 24 and 48 co-signed a letter asking AFSCME members to head to the Recall Kickoff Rally on November 19 and make sure to “step up and play your part in making sure we get … more than a half million signatures.” Council 11 has also called on AFSCME members to get involved with petition gathering

Breaking News
News from the front lines of our fight for workers rights:

OH: Ohio credit rating unaffected by union law defeat
Associated Press, 11/15/11

MI: Rick Snyder on Detroit: ‘I want to avoid an emergency manager if at all possible, but…’
Jonathan Oosting, MLive.com, 11/15/11

MN: Child Care Providers Prepare to Win Union Election
AFSCME Council 5, 11/15/11

IA: Mount Pleasant prison guard says lack of staff led to assault
Radio Iowa, 11/11/11

RI: Rhode Island Public Employees Call on Legislature to Keep the Promise
Kevin Hanes, AFSCME Greenline, 11/14/11

MA: PAC attacks Brown as Mass. Senate race heats up
Justin Sink, The Hill, 11/15/11

Ads Target Possible Supercommittee Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid
John Stanton, Roll Call, 11/15/11

How the private prison industry is corrupting our democracy and promoting mass incarceration
Public Campaign, 11/15/11

Video of the Week

Click here to watch the video from AFSCME’s Public Safety CongressAFSCME-represented corrections and sworn law enforcement employees from all over the country gathered in Houston, Texas, from September 16-18, 2011, at the AFSCME Public Safety Congress.This Congress was especially important, as public employees are facing the most severe attacks in our history. Public safety workers as well as civilian public employees are facing drastic cuts in funding, layoffs and attacks on our pensions and health care. Wholesale privatization of corrections is being proposed around the country. And this year, unlike any other time in our history as a union, we are facing a widespread and determined effort to deprive us of our very right to collectively bargain and engage in political and legislative activity.

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