Protesters rally again against right-to-work bill

Thousands of Wisconsin union workers rallied at the Capitol Saturday to protest a “right-to-work” proposal that would outlaw the mandatory payment of union dues, but the crowd was much smaller than those in 2011 against Gov. Scott Walker’s law stripping public sector unions of much of their power.

Speakers at the event jeered Walker’s comment earlier in the week that fighting against protesters during the 2011 debates prepared him to battle terrorists as president. Walker has not yet announced his presidential campaign, but is expected to do so later this year.

“What we are doing here today is the heart and soul of democracy, not terrorism,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of Wisconsin AFL-CIO.

Protesters held signs that said “This union grandma is not the same as ISIS” and “We are mad as h(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk) but we are peaceful.”

Bretta Schmidt, a nurse at Meriter Hospital in Madison held a sign that said “I’m a nurse, not a terrorist.” Schmidt said she protested Act 10 in 2011 and crowds Saturday could not compare.

“We feel defeated,” she said. “We know this is going to pass.”

A spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Administration, Cullen Werwie, said between 2,500 and 3,000 people gathered at the Capitol on Feb. 28.

There were about 2,000 there for rallies earlier in the week.

During the Act 10 debates in 2011, an estimated 100,000 people turned out for protests at the Capitol.