Meredith Pollack
New Yorkers Rally in support of Wisconsin Brothers
On Wednesday outside City Hall in Downtown New York City, union supporters gathered in a peaceful reaction to recent government crackdown on unions in Wisconsin.
“I’m out here to support my union brothers and sisters throughout the country,” Said Michael Arrabito, a 50 year old US Navy Veteran. He was one of the many union workers standing beside the fence of City Hall. “What happened [in Wisconsin] could happen to us. A lot of us served this country, and this is how they treat their veterans.” The New York City protest was scattered with people from all walks of life and all different types of unions. The group was full of veterans and city service workmen, as well as fire fighters, and union officials.
Many protesters were gathered among their own fellow union workers dressed in every day work clothes, but a few men up front stood out in expensive suits and jackets. One of these men was Dante Dano, JR. who has been a union official for the International Sheet Metal Workers Association for ten years. “At the end of the day, its scary because we’re next,” he said as he checked the time on his Rolex.
Later on that afternoon at Bar None in the East Village, Nat Brower, 22 and a Wisconsin native sipped at a beer. When asked what he felt the main reason behind the protests in both Wisconsin and New York, he shared that “Plain and simple, our governor is a monster.”
According to Fox9 News, as of February 18th, many Wisconsin teachers have joined the protests and schools have been shutting down. “My brother and I had to go back home last weekend,” says Brower. “My siblings are out of school and my Dad joined the protest so we had to be with family. Its really just crazy over there.”
Although not all the supporters in New York City have a direct connection to the events of Wisconsin, their loyalty to the rights of their unions brings them together. “This is a slippery slope,” said Matt Servitto of the Screen Actors Guild and of Soprano’s fame. “Do I have anything in common with the people in Wisconsin? No. I’m an actor in New York City. But what is happening to them is frightening, because it could surely happen to us.”
New Yorkers Rally in support of Wisconsin Brothers
On Wednesday outside City Hall in Downtown New York City, union supporters gathered in a peaceful reaction to recent government crackdown on unions in Wisconsin.
“I’m out here to support my union brothers and sisters throughout the country,” Said Michael Arrabito, a 50 year old US Navy Veteran. He was one of the many union workers standing beside the fence of City Hall. “What happened [in Wisconsin] could happen to us. A lot of us served this country, and this is how they treat their veterans.” The New York City protest was scattered with people from all walks of life and all different types of unions. The group was full of veterans and city service workmen, as well as fire fighters, and union officials.
Many protesters were gathered among their own fellow union workers dressed in every day work clothes, but a few men up front stood out in expensive suits and jackets. One of these men was Dante Dano, JR. who has been a union official for the International Sheet Metal Workers Association for ten years. “At the end of the day, its scary because we’re next,” he said as he checked the time on his Rolex.
Later on that afternoon at Bar None in the East Village, Nat Brower, 22 and a Wisconsin native sipped at a beer. When asked what he felt the main reason behind the protests in both Wisconsin and New York, he shared that “Plain and simple, our governor is a monster.”
According to Fox9 News, as of February 18th, many Wisconsin teachers have joined the protests and schools have been shutting down. “My brother and I had to go back home last weekend,” says Brower. “My siblings are out of school and my Dad joined the protest so we had to be with family. Its really just crazy over there.”
Although not all the supporters in New York City have a direct connection to the events of Wisconsin, their loyalty to the rights of their unions brings them together. “This is a slippery slope,” said Matt Servitto of the Screen Actors Guild and of Soprano’s fame. “Do I have anything in common with the people in Wisconsin? No. I’m an actor in New York City. But what is happening to them is frightening, because it could surely happen to us.”
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