“It’s like getting punched in the gut. It’s like you’re not even in America.”

The middle-aged man was just an onlooker, on his lunch hour in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda. He’d been watching a crowd of 100 people singing when two police officers held up a powerful “long-range acoustic device” (also used to ward off pirates off the coast of Somalia) and the recorded voice of Capitol Police Chief David Erwin—Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) former bodyguard—echoed through the dome:

In case you missed it, Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) recently compared himself to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (?!) and left the door open to expanding Act 10 [a law that limits most collective bargaining powers for most public employees] for police and firefighters. While Gov. Walker gears up for his spotlight at the National Governors Association, Wisconsin workers are still feeling the lasting impacts of a struggling economy.

Fast food workers in Milwaukee, Wis., became the latest to join a nation-wide movement for a living wage by walking off the job on Wednesday and calling for both an increase in wages and the recognition of their right to form a union free from employer harassment or retaliation.  Hundreds of workers joined the walkout, leaving restaurants like McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Old Country Buffet and Popeye's.  A rally is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

Across the country, low-wage workers at McDonald's, KFC, Jimmy John’s and other service-sector jobs are joining together to improve wages and working conditions for the entire industry. This growing movement is one of the largest grassroots workplace mobilizations in recent history. Recently, workers in New York City, Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit went on strike, demanding a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to form a union free from employer harassment and retaliation.

The South Central Federation of Labor in Wisconsin collected $445 in gas cards and bus cards to donate to the Community Action Coalition, which provides case management for families struggling to become self-sufficient.

Here’s a roundup of reactions to last night’s election victory by President Obama and other working family candidates from national and state union leaders.

AFT President Randi Weingarten:

The American people voted today to create opportunity and shared prosperity by sharing responsibility, and to reject the cynical "you’re on your own" philosophy.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas, who last month struck down the Wisconsin law (Act 10) that eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights, refused a request on Monday by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration to stay the order while the case is on appeal.

Colas said the state "failed to show that they will suffer irreparable harm if the stay is not granted."

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt and Secretary-Treasurer Stephanie Bloomingdale send us this.

On Friday, Sept. 14, Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas granted summary judgment in favor of Madison Teachers Inc. and others, finding many basic provisions of Act 10 violate the U.S. and Wisconsin constitutions and are therefore null and void.

Judge Colas found that the restriction limiting the increases on general municipal employees’ base wages only to the consumer price index (CPI) if bargained by a union burdened employees’ rights to free speech and freedom of association, since the limitation applied only to municipal employees represented by a union.

The judge held the prohibition against payroll dues deduction and the annual recertification election requirement by 51% of those eligible to vote burdens freedom of speech and association rights of those employees who support unions.

Palermo’s Pizza workers in Milwaukee are marking one month on strike with two events this week. Today, they made a "special delivery" to Palermo's Pizza headquarters: pizza boxes stuffed with petitions. 

WI

Wisconsin working family volunteers packed phone banks around the state and saturated neighborhoods in a huge weekend get-out-the-vote (GOTV) push to put Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett over the top in Tuesday’s recall election. The coalition We Are Wisconsin reports that volunteers knocked on more than 257,000 doors on Saturday and will continue the GOTV push through Election Day.

Retired state employee Shelly Glodowski said she was volunteering on the phones because Gov. Scott Walker (R):

has done a lot to hurt the middle class and hurt workers. We need all the help we can get [to recall him], every little bit helps.