MADISON, Wis., March 11 (UPI) -- Demonstrators said they have not lost any enthusiasm as they marked the 1-year anniversary in their battle over collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin.
A contingent of pro-labor protesters staged what they called a "Reclaim Wisconsin March" at the state capital Saturday and declared they had forced Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled state Legislature to back off from plans to gut the clout of public employee unions.
"It feels like we're turning the corner," Ithaca art teacher Peg Durkin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The newspaper said the crowd in Madison was smaller than previous rallies but still numbered in the thousands. The balmy late-winter weather may have helped encourage attendance.
"The last two times I was here I froze," said Lisa Olson, a school secretary. "It's more hopeful this time."
Speakers said the union opposition to Walker's moves had made an impact on the political landscape in Wisconsin, but the Journal said the state's Republican party called the rally a smokescreen. "Today liberal union activists conclude their 'misinformation' tour in their never-ending attempt to distort Gov. Walker's record of turning our state around," the party said in a written statement.
