Madison, Wis. – Last Saturday (March 12) the big tractors thundered into Madison, Wisconsin. (Video below)

Farmers and their families came to join over 150,000 angry workers, union members and their supporters protesting anti-worker legislation signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker. Farm families also came because the battle against the Republican dominated legislatures and Governor’s austerity budget has terrible consequences for rural communities.

Reaching deep into Wisconsin’s history of farmer-labor alliance, they proclaimed an unbreakable community of interests with public workers. Numerous farm families include public workers in rural community health and service vocations. And lots of public workers have relatives who still farm for a living. Many of the farmers come from conservative rural communities, but several had signs saying “Republican No More!”

The video features Tony Schultz, a third generation farmer who runs a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) co-op farm that provides beef, chicken, pigs and maple syrup for local markets. Tony is a member of the Family Farm Defenders http://familyfarmers.org/ and the Wisconsin Farmers Union http://www.wisconsinfarmersunion.com/.

Photo by Scott Marshall / PW

Madison Scenes from the Class Struggle March 12, 2011 from Scott Marshall on Vimeo.