LRB-2294/3
SRM&RAC:eev:jf
2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE
May 17, 2013 - Introduced by Representatives Richards and Sinicki. Referred to
Committee on Rules.
AR11,1,2
1Relating to: commemorating the Bay View labor strike and tragedy and the removal
2of the portrait of Jeremiah Rusk from the assembly chamber.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This resolution recognizes May 2 as the anniversary of the Bay View labor
strike and tragedy and requires the assembly chief clerk to remove the portrait of
Jeremiah Rusk from public display in the assembly chamber, including the parlor;
galleries; lobbies; hallways; and the offices of the speaker, majority leader, minority
leader, and caucus chair, on that day and the following week and to hang in its place
a photograph of the iron puddlers of the North Chicago Railroad Rolling Mill in Bay
View.
AR11,1,73
Whereas, Wisconsin workers and reformers made historic contributions to the
4development of workplace rights in the United States, helping to enact reforms such
5as worker's compensation and unemployment insurance; models that, in turn, were
6adopted by other states and the federal government and are cornerstones of
7employment in this state and country today; and
AR11,1,98
Whereas, during the 1880s, workers nationally and in Milwaukee began to
9advocate for the eight-hour workday, which we now take for granted; and
AR11,2,2
1Whereas, until that time workers generally labored at physically punishing
2jobs for many more hours than eight each day; and
AR11,2,53
Whereas, on May 1, 1886, a national campaign to require all employers to adopt
4a standard eight-hour day culminated when workers' unions urged all American
5workers to cease labor until their employers met the demand; and
AR11,2,76
Whereas, in Milwaukee, civil parades and demonstrations followed as striking
7workers shut down factories without violence during the first days of May 1886; and
AR11,2,118
Whereas, the morning of May 2, 1886, revealed the turmoil among Milwaukee's
9laborers around this issue, as more than a dozen strikes began in the city, involving
10the carpenters, coal heavers, sewer diggers, iron moulders, teamsters, common
11laborers, and other workers; and
AR11,2,1412
Whereas, during this period, the good citizens of Milwaukee began to receive
13word of the bloody conflict in Chicago's Haymarket Square, where police killed
14workers demonstrating peaceably for their rights; and
AR11,2,1715
Whereas, news of the bloodshed at Haymarket Square elevated tensions among
16the citizenry of Milwaukee, and many of Milwaukee's workers began to fear armed
17confrontation; and
AR11,2,2018
Whereas, the workers at the last grand factory to remain in operation were the
19iron puddlers at the North Chicago Railroad Rolling Mill Steel Foundry, in Bay View;
20and
AR11,2,2321
Whereas, on May 5, 1886, even as they feared for their safety, a crowd of
22demonstrators walked peaceably to the North Chicago Railroad Rolling Mill to urge
23the iron puddlers to participate in the general strike; and
AR11,3,224
Whereas, this peaceable assemblage of striking workers was then fired upon by
25Wisconsin National Guard troops, under order by Jeremiah Rusk, the governor of the
1state of Wisconsin, which killed seven people and wounded four, including
2bystanders; and
AR11,3,63
Whereas, the infamous events of that day will remain in the historic and
4cultural legacy of Wisconsin, serving as a reminder of the sacrifices our forebears
5made, even in the face of deadly opposition from Jeremiah Rusk, their own governor,
6so that we, their descendants, might lead safer, more productive work lives; and
AR11,3,97
Whereas, the citizens of Bay View and Milwaukee commemorate this pivotal
8series of events annually and recognize May 2 as the anniversary of the Bay View
9labor strike and tragedy; now, therefore, be it
AR11,3,18
10Resolved by the assembly, That every May 2 each year and on each day in the
11following week, to commemorate the Bay View tragedy and the sad fact of hostile
12opposition from Governor Rusk, the assembly chief clerk shall remove the portrait
13of Governor Rusk from public display in the assembly chambers, including the
14parlor; galleries; lobbies; hallways; and the offices of the speaker, majority leader,
15minority leader, and caucus chair, and shall hang instead in its place on those days
16the historic photographic portrait of the iron puddlers of the North Chicago Railroad
17Rolling Mill in Bay View that otherwise hangs in the office of the 20th Assembly
18District.
