Wausau firefighters, cops join massive gathering in Madison

[steve2470]

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20110227/WDH0101/102270564/Protest-numbers-swell

MADISON -- Hundreds of off-duty police officers and deputies joined protests Saturday against Gov. Scott Walker's budget bill.

Police, state troopers and firefighters are exempt from Walker's proposal to strip union bargaining rights from 170,000 other public employees, and even as some cops marched on the downtown Capitol Square, hundreds of other officers from around the state provided security.

Wausau Police Detective Cord Buckner, 42, stoically stood in the cold with an American flag wrapped around his face and holding a "Cops for Labor" sign as thousands of demonstrators marched around the Capitol.

"I'm here to support all the unions' rights," he said. Saturday was his fourth day demonstrating in Madison since protests began, even though members of his union, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, won't be affected directly by Walker's bill.

[Auntie Bush]

1. That's nice...Good for him/them. It's nice of cops and firefighters

to participate. They are wise enough to realize it will have a negative effect on them too if Walker breaks the unions.