Those we elect to public office have a duty to look beyond what might be immediately popular to what is genuinely in the public interest. Republican leaders in the Wisconsin legislature are failing this critical leadership test badly. Instead of working with Governor Evers during this crisis, Senator Scott Fitzgerald, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, and GOP lawmakers in the state legislature are pandering to the noisy reckless segment of the population who want the Safer at Home order lifted now by filing a lawsuit challenging the Governor’s extension of the Safer at Home order in the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
We are at war together against this virus, and instead of playing politics by filing lawsuit after lawsuit, we should be working together to save the lives of Wisconsinites. If ever there was a time for state GOP leaders to abandon their hyper-partisan, take-no-prisoners playbook in favor of genuine bi-partisan problem solving, it is now. Lives are at stake.
Far too many essential workers still on the job are working without adequate personal protective equipment; their workplaces are not sufficiently cleaned and sanitized; and recommended social distancing is not universally practiced. We’ve seen the result—many workers have contracted the virus on the job and sadly, a growing number have died.
We cannot begin to lift Safer at Home until we have this pandemic under control as outlined in Governor Evers' Badger Bounce Back Plan and until every essential worker is guaranteed access to proper personal protective equipment, thoroughly cleaned and sanitized workplaces, and social distance from one another to save their own lives and the lives of Wisconsinites.
Send a letter, sign our petition, and read and share the guest column published today in the Wisconsin Examiner in which Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale discusses the devastating long-term economic and personal consequences of lifting the Safer at Home order prematurely.
Working people are prepared to stay the course for the good of all. By avoiding a rush to a false sense of normalcy we will we be able to build a more stable and resilient economy that works for everyone.
We support Governor Evers’ leadership in this crisis, his order to extend Safer at Home, and his detailed plan to responsibly manage Wisconsin’s pandemic and get us all safely back to work.
We call on each and every elected official to set politics aside and work together.
In Solidarity,
Stephanie Bloomingdale, President
Dennis Delie, Secretary-Treasurer