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California workers protest cuts

Published Apr 14, 2005 9:57 PM

Leon Chow of the
Healthcare Workers Union.

Several thousand labor union workers, retirees, their families and friends stopped traffic for two hours on the streets surrounding the fancy Ritz-Carlton Hotel here on the evening of April 5. They rallied and picketed against Gov. Arnold Schwar zenegger and his wealthy supporters, who were dining inside the hotel. Speaker after speaker denounced Schwarz enegger’s plans to slash education funding; reduce pension, disability and death benefits to public employees; cut nursing staffs; and weaken state labor regulations.

The protest was organized by both state and local unions, including AFSCME Dis trict Council 57; California State Employ ees Unions SEIU Local 1000; California Nurses Association; California Teachers Association; Service Employees Interna tional Union; and United Trans portation Union Local 1741, School Bus Drivers.

The lively crowd held signs in Chinese, English and Spanish, saying: “Nurses heal—Arnold wheels & deals,” “Arnold can’t be bought—Big Business already owns him,” and “Students —OUR ‘special interest.’”

Speaker after speaker denoun ced the “governator’s” plans. A speaker from the California Labor Council expressed the sentiments of the crowd: “The cuts are for only one thing—to go after workers. We must fight and keep it in the streets on behalf of the real heroes—the workers!”

The protest had an impact. Within two days Schwarzenegger started withdrawing some of his outrageous proposals. Feeling the heat from firefighters across the state, he dropped his plans to reduce their disability and death benefits. With labor picketing every public appearance Schwar zenegger makes, more victories are sure to follow.