My name is Andrew Schmidt
“
“Why I’m going down to the Capitol….
Those of you who have known me for a long time might be surprised to hear that I have been hesitating to jump into the fray of the labor protests happening in Wisconsin.
First, a clarification: The public employees and the many, many others who have been showing up and showing support in other ways, are not protesting because we are greedy and won’t make concessions to help fix the budget. Our governor didn’t ask us to make concessions. He proposed that we eliminate our unions so that he and the legislature could unilaterally eliminate benefits and slash pay as he saw fit. No, the bill does not say “eliminate the unions,” but when the ONLY thing unions would be able to negotiate by LAW would be pay increases of not more than the cost of living, that union dues would become “optional,” and when things like benefits, pensions and working conditions would become non-negotiable, the unions would be functionally useless. THAT is why the protests are happening.
That said, I have been making myself sick trying to decide to what extent I can participate in the protest activities. I am 7 months pregnant. I have a 4 year old. My husband and I don’t have enough of a savings to risk either of us losing our jobs or missing out on pay.
Despite the schools being closed in Madison, teachers must take sick days, without pay, in order to participate in the protests. We need my salary. I need my sick days for upcoming doctor appointments and maternity leave. It is very physically hard on my body to participate in the protests.
But I am going to the Capitol today. Without a union, teacher wages would be so low that I wouldn’t be able to remain in the career that I love. Without a union, I wouldn’t have the health insurance coverage I do have that has caught and is following a potentially dangerous pregnancy complication. Without a union, I wouldn’t have the sick days that I do have. Without unions, maternity leave wouldn’t exist. Without my own union brothers and sisters, who donate days to a sick leave bank each year, I wouldn’t be able to take paid maternity leave. Without the action of a union, if it were 30 years ago, I would have had to resign my job as soon as my pregnancy started to show.
Believe me, I’d rather be in my classroom today, doing what I love to do: Teaching kids. With the schools closed, that is a moot point. But I will not take pay today by going into an empty school. I am going down to the Capitol to protest a bill that attempts to balance the budget on the backs of teachers and other middle class public servants. I am going down to the Capitol to protect my future in the career I love. I am going to the Capitol to defend the state I love. I am going to the Capitol for my children and my union brothers and sisters who fought so hard before me.”
”A Facebook post from Sara Milewski, who teaches a combined 2/3 class in Madison at Glendale Elementary.
