The Harry Potter Alliance

By Ashley

March 29, 2011

Hermione Visits Madison, Wisconsin

You may have heard that thousands of people have gathered at Wisconsin’s Capitol building every day for the past three weeks. At some points, the crowd was estimated at a staggering 100,000 people. So what’s all the fuss? Why have Jimmy Kimmel and Brian Williams slow-jammed the Wisconsin protests and why has Jon Stewart been covering the crisis in the Dairyland?

On Thursday, February 17, 2010, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced that he would be asking the Wisconsin Legislature to pass an “Emergency Budget Repair” bill. Walker said this bill would give local governments the “tool” necessary to balance their budgets—that is, local governments would be able to set pension and healthcare contributions for public employees without negotiating with unions. Unfortunately, these actions match Lucius Malfoy’s motivations and priorities in his treatment of house elves.

When Hermione started SPEW, she recognized the importance of workers’ rights. She knew it was wrong to take away house elves’ workers’ rights- the right to choose who to work for, the right to work for fair pay, the right to breaks or vacations. But Hermione wouldn’t have been satisfied if the Malfoys of the wizarding world gave their house elves these things without freeing them from service. Even if Malfoy would have let Dobby work eight hours a day, didn’t hit him as punishment, and gave him the weekends off, it wouldn’t have been enough. Even though Dobby would have a better place to work, he wouldn’t have any power to protect himself from future abuse or negotiate any further changes. Dobby wouldn’t have any way to fight for his rights for sick days. Malfoy would still hold all the power.

This is exactly what’s happening in Wisconsin right now. All of the state employee unions told the Governor that they would agree to the cuts in pay, healthcare benefits, and pensions that the Governor was asking for, as long as workers could keep their rights to collectively bargain. But Governor Walker said no. Instead, Governor Walker wanted to retain power over workers. He didn’t want to hand unions the sock that Harry handed Dobby. Unfortunately, the Wisconsin Legislature agreed with Governor Walker, and the law was passed last week.

What can you do to show support for workers’ rights in Wisconsin? First, if you have friends or family in Wisconsin, talk to them about this issue and encourage them to write their representatives. Additionally, efforts are currently underway to recall all eligible republican representatives who voted to pass this bill. Encourage family and friends to support these efforts. These are ways that you can support Harry in his decision to hand Dobby a sock.

Second, if you don’t live in Wisconsin, you can help increase the overall strength of unions nation-wide by joining your local, professional union. If you work somewhere that already has a union, join it. If you work somewhere without a union, start a union. Organize your fellow workers, and take a vote to unionize.

Third, take political action on the national, state, and local level. There are a number of other governors in other states (like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana), who are already trying to pass similar laws that would remove collective bargaining rights. And there are even more governors waiting to see if Governor Walker succeeds before they try the same thing in their states. These issues of workers’ rights aren’t going away. Keep an eye out for them and vote accordingly.

Workers’ rights are human rights, and through Dobby, we all witnessed what happens when workers’ rights are denied. Hermione spoke up when she saw workers’ rights being threatened; we need to speak up, too, so that their rights can be restored.