Mike Tate column: On Labor Day, middle class under siege

Scott Walker Republicans have shown total disregard for the working families of Wisconsin, with the greatest amount of contempt reserved for our brothers and sisters of the labor movement. After having waged a full-scale assault against labor, this bunch adds insult to a thousand injuries by hoping to preen in Labor Day parades. This is absurd.

Forget for a moment why the enemies of labor would want to tread amid demonstrations for a movement that they fundamentally oppose.

Forget the "Right to Work for Less" legislation they propose, the move to end prevailing wage standards, the attack on collective bargaining, the mockery with which they have treated the women and men of our state who live by the sweat of their brow.

Remember, instead, whom Republicans like Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan really serve, and that is a narrow band of corporate interests who would see wages and benefits slashed, schools shut down, jobs shipped overseas, all for the profit of a greedy few.

With Scott Walker, Paul Ryan and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson working to destroy our middle class, Labor Day 2011 is not a happy one in Wisconsin. When workers return to their jobs -- if they even have one -- they will face Republican pressures driving down their wages, slashing their benefits and eliminating their protections.

The enemies of labor are on the march. But if the labor movement has taught us anything, it is that in their righteous might, the people can organize and beat back the predators that take food from the mouths of their families. The great recall movement of the spring and summer has shown us that the people of Wisconsin are ready to correct Scott Walker's extreme overreach.

Labor Day 2011 is time to reflect that, to preserve the dignity of Wisconsin's workers, there is much more work to be done.

View this column online at the Wausau Daily Herald here.