MADISON, Wis. — A state Capitol thrown into political chaos swelled for a fifth day with nearly 70,000 protesters, as supporters of Republican efforts to scrap the collective-bargaining rights of state workers challenged pro-union protesters face to face for the first time, and GOP leaders insisted again Saturday that there was no room for compromise.
A few dozen police officers stood between supporters of Republican Gov. Scott Walker on the muddy east lawn of the Capitol and the much larger group ofpro-union demonstrators who surrounded them. The protest was peaceful as both sides exchanged chants of “Pass the bill! Pass the bill!” and “Kill the bill! Kill the bill!”
“Go home!” union supporters yelled at Scott Lemke, a 46-year-old machine-parts salesman from Cedarburg who wore a hard hat and carried a sign that read “If you don’t like it, quit” on one side, and “If you don’t like that, try you’re fired” on the other.
But most of the demonstrators stayed in their respective camps.
“We’re not here to argue or anything, just to support our governor and his decision,” said Olivia Peach, 20, a Tea Party supporter who drove two hours to reach Madison.
Supporters of the governor’s bill gathered on a corner to hear speeches from local Tea Party leaders and others like Samuel Wurzelbacher, who is better known as Joe the Plumber.
One of bill’s supporters read an e-mail that, he said, had come from former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska: “Union brothers and sisters, this is the wrong fight at the wrong time.” He added that Palin had declined an invitation to make an appearance.
The Wisconsin governor, elected in November’s GOP wave that also gave control of the state House and Senate to Republicans, set off the protests earlier last week by pushing ahead with a measure that would require government workers to contribute more to their health-care and pension costs, and largely eliminate their collective-bargaining rights.
He says those things are needed to deal with the state’s projected $3.6 billion budget shortfall and to avoid layoffs of government workers.
At a rally organized by Tea Party Patriots, the movement’s umbrella group, and Americans for Prosperity, supporters of Walker carried signs with messages: “Your Gravy Train Is Over ... Welcome to the Recession” and “Sorry, we’re late Scott. We work for a living.”
“We pay the bills!” Tea Party member Herman Cain yelled to cheers from the pro-Walker crowd. “This is why you elected Scott Walker, and he’s doing his job. ... Wisconsin is broke. My question for the other side is, ‘What part of broke don’t you understand?’”
Nearby, about two dozen cabs blocked an intersection near the Capitol. The driver of the lead cab leaned out of the window and played a trumpet, while others attempted to honk their car horns in sync with a chant from pro-union protesters: “This is what democracy looks like.”
John McNamara, the marketing director of Union Cab, said: “One of the reasons the company decided to support the protesters is because the members of this company started off striking their employer for better wages, and that employer ... refused to allow them to bargain collectively.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald reaffirmed Saturday that Republicans have not been swayed by the pro-union protesters who since Tuesday have filled the Capitol with chanting, drumbeats and anti-Walker slogans.
“The bill is not negotiable,” Fitzgerald said inside a heavily guarded Senate parlor at the Capitol. “The bill will pass as is.”
Fitzgerald said Republicans have the votes to pass the “budget repair” bill just as soon as 14 Senate Democrats who fled the state Thursday and remain in hiding return to the Statehouse. Without them, there isn’t the required quorum to vote on legislation. The missing Democrats have threatened to stay away for weeks for “as long as it takes” until Walker agrees to negotiate, Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach said Saturday.
“I don’t think he’s really thought it through, to be honest,” Erpenbach said of Walker.
Democrats offered again Saturday to agree to the parts of Walker’s proposal that would double workers’ health-insurance contributions and require them to contribute 5.8 percent of their salaries to their pensions, so long as workers keep their rights to negotiate with the state as a union.
Fitzgerald said he was unimpressed given that the offer was something the GOP has rejected for months. The restrictions on collective-bargaining rights are needed so that local governments and the state have the flexibility to balance budgets after cuts that Walker plans to announce next month, he said.
Walker, who was spending time with his family Saturday and wasn’t expected to make an appearance at the Tea Party-organized rally, also rejected the Democrats’ offer. His spokesman, Cullen Werwie, said the fastest way to end the stalemate is for Democrats to return and “do their jobs.”
Erpenbach said Saturday afternoon that the offer from public-employee groups is “a legitimate and serious offer on the table from local, state and school public employees that balance Gov. Walker’s budget.
“It would appear that Gov. Walker’s only target is the destruction of collective-bargaining rights and not solving the state’s budget.”
Erpenbach said the next move is up to Walker.
“I don’t see this coming to a head until the governor takes a look at this,” Erpenbach said. “He has all he needs to balance the budget.”
Many in the union crowd said they were willing to accept the proposed cuts - and labor leaders have expressed willingness to do so as well - but would not agree to the bill’s broader provisions. Those measures would prohibit unions from bargaining over issues other than wages, stop them from having dues deducted from state paychecks and require the unions to hold annual elections to stay in existence.
Sen. Tim Cullen, a Democrat from Janesville, refused to say where he was Saturday but said he didn’t expect the Senate to meet again until Tuesday. Cullen said he was watching Saturday’s rallies on television with some friends.
“I’m hoping to see no violence, that’s what I’m hoping most to see,” Cullen said. “This has been a very peaceful, respectful thing all week given the size of the crowds.”
Madison police estimated that 60,000 or more people were outside the Capitol with up to 8,000 more inside Saturday. Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney had planned to add 60 deputies to the 100 who patrolled during the week. Police set up barricades, temporary fences and even positioned police snipers. But Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said there had been no arrests or problems by midafternoon.
“We’ve seen and shown the world that in Madison, Wis., we can bring people together who disagree strongly on a bill in a peaceful way,” DeSpain said.
Fitzgerald said his group continues to be concerned about safety issues. He said several senators have received threatening e-mails - though he said Capitol police have told him not elaborate - and some senators have had protesters show up at their homes.
Information for this article was contributed by Todd Richmond, Dinesh Ramde, Scott Bauer and Jason Smathers of The Associated Press; by Lee Bergquist, Don Walker and Bill Glauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; and by Monica Davey and A.G. Sulzberger of The New York Times.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/20/2011