Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), is visiting Madison this week.
The head of the largest largest public employees union in the country is lending his support to the ongoing legal battle over bargaining rights for Wisconsin state workers. Today, he joined the daily Solidarity Sing Along outside the state Capitol today along with Marty Biel, who heads the largest AFSCME local union in the state.
Saunders says he came to Madison to help boost union morale. “The national union is still supporting this struggle, and I thought it was important that I as a national leader come and show support and be here physically.”
Because today's Sing Along took place outside the Capitol, Saunders did not face possible arrest, as hundreds of other singers have been gathering in the Capitol without a permit over the past few months have. Saunders says the arrests are un-American.
“I think it's a bullying tactic,” he says. “I think it's using fear and people aren’t going to accept that.”
There have been fewer arrests at the Capitol over the past week, and an increasing number of people have obtained permits for small events over the noon hour forcing the singers to hold their non-permitted event outside.
Calls and emails to the Department of Administration asking if the permitting or arresting policies have changed were not immediately returned.
