“Jason Stein and Patrick Marley's deeply reported and illuminating book is an invaluable resource.”—David Maraniss, Madison native and author of Barack Obama: The Story
“Stein and Marley deliver an impressively objective account of the struggle, ably describing the objectives and tactics of each side in a confident and engaging style.”--Kirkus Reviews
When Wisconsin became the first state in the nation in 1959 to let public employees bargain with their employers, the legislation catalyzed changes to labor laws across the country. In March 2011, newly elected Governor Scott Walker repealed most of that labor law and subsequent ones—and then became the first governor in the nation to survive a recall election fifteen months later. Those events sent a different message. Both times, Wisconsin took the lead, first empowering public unions and then weakening them. This book from the University of Wisconsin-Press recounts the battle between the Republican governor and the unions.
The struggle drew the attention of the country and the notice of the world, launching Walker as a national star for the Republican Party and simultaneously energizing and damaging the American labor movement. Madison was the site of one unprecedented spectacle after another: 1:00 a.m. parliamentary maneuvers, a camel slipping on icy Madison streets as union firefighters rushed to assist, massive nonviolent street protests, and a weeks-long occupation that blocked the marble halls of the Capitol and made its rotunda ring.
Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, award-winning journalists for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, covered the fight firsthand. They center their account on the frantic efforts of state officials meeting openly and in the Capitol’s elegant backrooms as protesters demonstrated outside. Conducting new in-depth interviews with elected officials, labor leaders, cops, protesters, and other key figures, and drawing on new documents and their own years of experience as statehouse reporters, Stein and Marley have written a gripping account of the wildest sixteen months in Wisconsin politics since the era of Joe McCarthy. They offer new insights on the origins of Walker’s wide-ranging budget-repair bill, which included the provision to end public-sector collective bargaining; the Senate Democrats’ decision to leave the state to try to block the bill; Democrats’ talks with both union leaders and Republicans while in Illinois; and the reasons why compromise has become, as one Republican dissenter put it, a “dirty word” in politics today.
"Stein and Marley, reporters for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, deliver a swashbuckling tale of Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker's election and tumultuous first year in office."—Publishers Weekly
“A timely report on one of the most tumultuous periods in Wisconsin’s history. Stein and Marley cover the substance of the story without bias and include details not previously known to the public.”—Joe Heim, political analyst, Wisconsin Public Radio
“An important work that offers behind-the-scenes details on the institutional players most involved in the events leading up to and following Governor Scott Walker's introduction of his explosive collective bargaining bill. It will be of great interest to those who have followed the drama closely as well as to lay readers.”—Judith Davidoff, news editor, Isthmus
The struggle drew the attention of the country and the notice of the world, launching Walker as a national star for the Republican Party and simultaneously energizing and damaging the American labor movement. Madison was the site of one unprecedented spectacle after another: 1:00 a.m. parliamentary maneuvers, a camel slipping on icy Madison streets as union firefighters rushed to assist, massive nonviolent street protests, and a weeks-long occupation that blocked the marble halls of the Capitol and made its rotunda ring.
Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, award-winning journalists for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, covered the fight firsthand. They center their account on the frantic efforts of state officials meeting openly and in the Capitol’s elegant backrooms as protesters demonstrated outside. Conducting new in-depth interviews with elected officials, labor leaders, cops, protesters, and other key figures, and drawing on new documents and their own years of experience as statehouse reporters, Stein and Marley have written a gripping account of the wildest sixteen months in Wisconsin politics since the era of Joe McCarthy. They offer new insights on the origins of Walker’s wide-ranging budget-repair bill, which included the provision to end public-sector collective bargaining; the Senate Democrats’ decision to leave the state to try to block the bill; Democrats’ talks with both union leaders and Republicans while in Illinois; and the reasons why compromise has become, as one Republican dissenter put it, a “dirty word” in politics today.
"Stein and Marley, reporters for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, deliver a swashbuckling tale of Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker's election and tumultuous first year in office."—Publishers Weekly
“A timely report on one of the most tumultuous periods in Wisconsin’s history. Stein and Marley cover the substance of the story without bias and include details not previously known to the public.”—Joe Heim, political analyst, Wisconsin Public Radio
“An important work that offers behind-the-scenes details on the institutional players most involved in the events leading up to and following Governor Scott Walker's introduction of his explosive collective bargaining bill. It will be of great interest to those who have followed the drama closely as well as to lay readers.”—Judith Davidoff, news editor, Isthmus
© Jason Stein and Patrick Marley
