Civil and Human Rights Coalition: Wisconsin Republicans’ Actions “One of the Most Significant Challenges to Civil and Human Rights in a Generation”

Washington, DC – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in condemnation of the Wisconsin Senate’s elimination of collective bargaining rights for public workers:

 “Yesterday’s actions in Wisconsin were an unprecedented assault on collective bargaining and one of the most significant challenges to civil and human rights in a generation.  That’s why the civil and human rights community won’t stand idle while Gov. Walker and his colleagues in Indiana, Ohio, and elsewhere seek to turn back the clock on American progress.

The unilateral action in Wisconsin is a threat not just to public workers but to all working people. These politicians are telling millions of Wisconsin’s families that they don’t deserve job security, that they don’t deserve health care benefits, and that they don’t deserve wages that can put food on their tables. Their actions are despicable and show that some politicians are willing to sacrifice their own constituents’ financial security in the name of ideological posturing.

Wisconsinites and the nation are responding appropriately but forcefully to the rollback of their civil and human rights.  The public outrage, the recall campaigns aimed at these senators and at Gov. Walker, and the outpouring of support from Americans of all backgrounds are just the beginning. The civil and human rights community stands with the working people of Wisconsin as we fight tooth and nail against these backward-looking proposals. 

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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