A Wisconsin Wind Blows In | New Haven Independent

A Wisconsin Wind Blows In | New Haven Independent

by Gwyneth K. Shaw | Mar 31, 2011 7:29 am

"There were teachers, laborers, steelworkers, Teamsters, Yale union workers and city workers. Walking alongside them were parents, kids and students; old-school activists and youngsters making first forays into protest. The sea of faces was diverse, in terms of race, ethnicity, age and class.

“I grew up in a family that remembers when,” said Cohen, 66, who lives on George Street. She’s descended from garment workers and others who fought for better working conditions, and struck when they didn’t get them.

Cohen said those gains are threatened now, in places like Wisconsin, Michigan—and New Haven, where employers from Yale to City Hall have been eliminating hundreds of jobs amid the recession. That makes her sad.

“I came just because I’m appalled at what’s going on in this country,” she said."