Union support for welfare marcher
'Spend surplus on saving poor, not the rich'
By Monica
Moorehead
Newark, N.J.
Kim Denmark, an African American welfare-rights activist
from Ohio, continues her inspirational march across the United
States to help bring national attention to the deepening plight
of poor people.
On March 3 she arrived in Newark, the most populous city in
New Jersey.
A predominantly African American city, Newark has one of the
highest percentages in the country of those in poverty, as well
as those living with HIV and AIDS. Newark gained international
attention during the summer of 1967, when a rebellion spread
throughout the Black community in response to police brutality,
unemployment and inhumane living conditions. Scores of people
were killed and hundreds injured by racist police.
Therefore, it was truly appropriate for Denmark to march to
the Essex County Welfare Building, where she was met by friends
and allies who support the cause she has taken up: exposing the
social impact of the 1996 welfare "reform" bill signed by
President Bill Clinton.
The so-called Personal Responsibility Act was in reality a
signed death warrant for single mothers, their children and
those on public assistance. Millions will have lost all their
federal benefits by the five-year limit this coming August.
Denmark is calling for a late-August national protest in
Washington against these economic sanctions imposed on the most
disenfranchised and marginalized sectors in society.
Speakers at a rally in front of the county building included
Carol Gaye representing Jobs With Justice, Larry Holmes and
Monica Moorehead from the International Action Center, and Kim
Nelson from Redliners--a Black motorcycle community group that
accompanied Denmark and some of her children into Newark. There
were also representatives from Haiti Solidarity Network of the
Northeast and the Peoples Video Network. The Star Ledger, the
largest newspaper in New Jersey, carried a major story on this
event on March 4.
David Weiner, president of Communication Workers Local 1081,
opened the rally speaking on the impact of welfare reform in
Essex County. Local 1081 represents the non-managerial workers
of the Essex County Division of Welfare, the Passaic County
Board of Social Service and attorneys employed by the city of
Newark.
Weiner talked about the Department of Economic Development
and Training, which was assigned the task of establishing
welfare-to-work programs. Work programs are code words for
slave-wage jobs with no benefits.
These service-sector jobs pay from $7 to $8 an hour. The
DEDTE has reported a 92-percent failure rate in jobs and
training placement.
Newark's plight is similar to what is happening around the
country. And as the corporations keep announcing profit losses
and massive layoffs, those who thought their financial futures
were secure are becoming increasingly worried. If they are
handed a pink slip, will they become another nameless, homeless
statistic? Could their next home be the inside of a prison
cell?
The issue of welfare is not just an issue for the very poor
and the oppressed. It is an issue for every worker and
unionist.
Kim Denmark is issuing a wake-up call to the entire country.
Dismantling welfare will continue to drive down the living
standards of all poor and working people--with people of color
in the front line of fire. Her message is that people need to
unite and organize for decent jobs, housing, education and
dignity.
As Larry Holmes told the rally: "Kim's courage and
determination should inspire us to take up the fight for a
national moratorium on this five-year cutoff of benefits that
comes up in August. There needs to be an extension, because
this is an emergency crisis for millions of people.
"With a $3-trillion government surplus, this money should go
toward meeting the needs of the people, not tax cuts for the
rich."
Kim Denmark arrives in Trenton, N.J., the weekend of March
10. A website, www.kimwalks.org, has been established by the
IAC to track the cities she will travel through until August.
For those located in northern New Jersey, she will be appearing
on the Channel 3 Cablevision program "Labor's View" with David
Weiner on March 19 at 6:30 p.m.
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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