One year after the passage of the budget repair law that sparked mass protests in Madison, an estimated 35,000 people gathered outside the Capitol on Saturday for the Reclaim Wisconsin Rally.
While the event was organized as the last stop in a Wisconsin State AFL-CIO bus tour, many organizations participated in the rally, including Madison Teachers Incorporated and We Are Wisconsin.
Speakers urged attendees to champion union rights, the continued need for transparent democracy in state government proceedings and a shift in momentum to the upcoming recall elections.
Lori Compas, who is running in the recall election to unseat Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, said independents, Democrats and Republicans worked together to do what many believed could not be done.
“I’m here to tell you that change is in the air,” Compas said. “These aren’t Democratic issues or Republican issues. These are the concerns of ordinary people who want a decent life for themselves and those whom they love. A year ago the powers that be refused to hear us, but I think they hear us now.”
Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin union, said citizens should not stand for a government that “takes away from the many and gives to the few.”
Mitchell also said statewide cuts to education are damaging the state of higher education.
“They’re trying to desensitize us and defund us,” Mitchell said. “Millions of dollars [have been] taken from public education, including a 30 percent cut from tech colleges. And now they want to go even further. ”
John Nichols, a correspondent for The Nation, said despite the efforts stacked against the protesters, the state was still able to collect enough signatures to trigger a recall election of Gov. Scott Walker.
Nichols also said advocated for citizens to participate in the movement to reclaim their state.
“We don’t bring this movement together to advance a party,” Nichols said. “We don’t bring this movement together to advance a candidate. We bring this movement together to advance an ideal of democracy that allows the people to say no to power.”
Nichols also said the direct relationship democracy has with the people, saying it is dependent upon the efforts of the public to take on the biggest economical and political powers to keep their rights.
A consistent rallying point in the speeches involved the rhetoric of the Occupy movement and its relationship to Wisconsin. Mary Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, said changes are still to come involve creating a government that works for the 99 percent.
“There should be a pro-middle class governor and lieutenant governor, and there should be a pro-worker majority in the state Senate,” said Henry. “We’re going to win in November, but we’re not just going to win an election. We’re going to win a mandate for change for the 99 percent in Wisconsin.”
A small number of supporters for Gov. Scott Walker were also present at the rally, with one man holding a sign that read “Support Scott Walker, not union thugs.”
A series of small conflicts broke out between the man with the sign and other attendees at the rally until police escorted the Walker supporter and another protester out of the area.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
