SYRACUSE -- Update, Thursday, 6:30pm:
Thursday night, people came out to the site of the old Syracuse China factory to rally and show their support for union rights.
Their message? Working people shouldn't have to pay the price for the recession.
"I'm out here to support the Wisconsin workers and also send a wake-up call to our own legislators and governor here that what's not acceptable there is not going to be acceptable here, " said Carol Baum.
In Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker said he will issue layoffs Friday if a bill isn't passed by the state Senate. Walker wants to eliminate collective bargaining rights for most state employees and force them to pay more for benefits. The Senate hasn't voted because Democrats fled to Illinois.
Jake Eichten was part of Thursday's rally.
"I'm here to stand in solidarity with all the working people being one myself. We just have to support our own right."
the CSEA, along with community members, were signing petitions that will be sent to people in Wisconsin.
Original Story:
Demonstrators in Syracuse are standing up for workers in Wisconsin.
A group organizing on Facebook will be holding a rally in defense of workers' rights Thursday afternoon. Workers in Wisconsin have been protesting for two weeks against Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to strip public workers of most collective bargaining rights. Walker says it's necessary to deal with the state's budget crisis.
Supporters of workers' rights locally say unions helped create the middle class, and hurting the unions would in turn hurt the middle class, and the economy. High school social studies teacher Donna Oppedisano says the debate is pitting people against each other. "This budget crisis, although very real," she says, "is being used as a tool to dismantle the rights of people and pit one group against another."
Oppedisano says what the workers are facing in Wisconsin is having a ripple effect on the whole country, including New York.
Thursday's rally will start at five o'clock at the empty Syracuse China Facility.
