Met Opera target of labor protest
Hundreds of workers from dozens of unions protested across
the street from Lincoln Center in New York Sept. 27 as the
tuxedo-clad rich arrived for opening night of the Metropolitan
Opera's fall season. Demonstrators demanded union recognition
for the 95 food-service workers employed by Restaurant
Associates, which runs the Met's restaurants. RA management
refuses to recognize Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local
100--or address contract demands for health-care benefits and
decent wages for the workers, who are mostly Latin American
immigrants.
Shortly before the curtain rose inside, activists crossed
the street, stepped onto the Lincoln Center plaza and started
distributing fliers to opera patrons. Officials announced that
they had an injunction barring organizers from handing out
leaflets. Police arrested 31 people.
Handcuffed inside the police van, a group of young women
chanted: "Met Opera--no more lies; give us the right to
organize" and "Cessiente, cessiente, la union esta presente"
(Stop [the attacks], the union is here).
Sulama Pacheco, a young organizer for the Farm Workers
union, led the chants. From inside the police van she told
Workers World she was going to jail because "workers need what
they deserve, what they're asking for--medical care for their
kids." Noting that she'd been arrested for distributing
information, she said, "We need free speech for workers."
--Shelley
Ettinger
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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