With the Nov. 3 election quickly approaching, union workers are urging Wisconsin voters to consider how political decisions continue to affect wages and workplace rights.

Advocates for working families argued deciding who holds office is key to reversing policies they say favor corporations.

Pat Raes, a registered nurse and president of the Service Employees International Union-Wisconsin, pointed to Act 10, the 15-year-old state law restricting collective bargaining rights for most public employees. The law is still tied up in the courts and she said it remains a central issue.

"Workers are demanding a serious change. We need to end the anti-labor laws. We need to end the poverty wages and we need a political system that works for the working people instead of lining the pockets of the wealthy," Raes contended.

The union put their message into action over the weekend. Hundreds of union workers rallied and took to the streets for door-to-door canvassing as part of a nationwide “Unions for All” effort. In Milwaukee, healthcare, school, janitorial and security workers mobilized around the election while calling on corporations to stay out of politics and pay what they owe in taxes.

Raes argued corporate profits are growing while working families struggle with rising costs. A report from the Institute for Policy Studies found from 2019 to 2025, CEO compensation at 100 large, low-wage-paying corporations grew more than twice as fast as median worker pay. The report showed the companies had more than 1,200 registered lobbyists.

Raes stressed political policies continue to put everyday workers at a disadvantage.

"Profits at the corporation are really unpaid wages when you break it right down and the working class has not truly seen a raise in a long time because healthcare costs, inflation, groceries, gasoline are all outdistancing the raises that people are able to get," Raes pointed out.

There is a trio of proposed constitutional amendments on Wisconsin's November ballot, dealing with the governor’s partial veto power over taxes and fees, religious gatherings during emergencies and government policies involving discrimination and preferential treatment. Republican lawmakers who advanced them said they would limit government power and protect religious freedom and equal treatment, while critics warned they could constrain emergency authority and efforts to address discrimination.

Raes echoes the concerns, encouraging voters to carefully review them and make a plan to vote early.

"People really need to realize that we have an opportunity to stop some of the bad bills that have been passed lately by changing who's in office," Raes underscored.

Source: Public News Service