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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Daily Kos: An open letter to residents of Wisconsin #wisolidarity #wiunion

Daily Kos: An open letter to residents of Wisconsin

this is crossposted from Dirty Hippies. this diary is the contents of an email widely distributed by Cynthia Koebert. It was written by her mother Jo Koebert to her brother. I have the permission of both Koeberts to distribute. I urge you to read it and to pass it on.

I am a Wisconsin resident who was born and raised in Milwaukee. I come from a working class family, and although I am lucky enough to spend some of the winter in Arizona, I am deeply connected to my Wisconsin roots. As I watch what is going on in Madison right now, I think about what unions have meant to our family.

(more below the fold)

My father had no skills other than the willingness to work hard, but he made a living wage because of the automobile union. He didn’t get rich, but he was able to provide for us, buy a simple house and own a car. My uncle worked in a unionized factory, again with no specific skills, yet he had a steady paycheck and enough sense to invest and leave his wife a comfortable inheritance. Another uncle also worked in a factory under safe conditions thank