10/01/2026
“We’ve lost the middle class and the American dream,” said Peter Rickman, president of the Milwaukee Area Service & Hospitality Workers Union. “This global trade regime, written by and for big banks and billionaires in the Boss Class devastated working class communities across the country, across the Rust Belt, right here in Wisconsin.”
Darin Von Ruden is the president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union. He said trade policy has contributed to the decline in the number of dairy farms in the state.
“We need the G20 folks here now to really take a look at how do we make sure that those people that do the hard work to produce the food that we have, continue to have a decent living wage,” Von Ruden said. “We need to get to a system where farmers and laborers can prosper for many decades.”
Margie Lowe, a Milwaukee resident, attended the protest. She said politicians on both sides of the aisle have created trade policies that have hurt middle-class Americans.
“It’s heartbreaking, and companies weren’t just shut down, but the heart and the soul of Middle America has been stripped away,” she said. “They left so many communities high and dry.”
Hosted by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the ministerial comes at a time when President Donald Trump's tariffs, a trade war with Canada and high fuel prices sparked by the war in Iran have left Americans uneasy about the economy.
