BUILD THE MILLION WORKER MARCH
'The civil rights movement of our time'
By Leslie Feinberg
"We have called on the anti-war and peace movements to join
us on Oct. 17 and they are coming by the tens of thousands,"
Million Worker March leader Clarence Thomas explains, "because
the war in Iraq, just like the Vietnam War of Dr. King's time,
is destroying people and precious resources that should be used
for health insurance, jobs, housing and education."
Thomas is a member of the San Fran cisco-based ILWU Local
10--which has earned its reputation as a fighting, militant
union. Local 10 first issued the call for a Million Worker
March more than six months ago.
Thomas stresses, "A big part of the Million Worker March
message is that war and occupation are the enemies of working
people, and we have to bring the troops home right now."
An Oct. 5 MWM news release reports that "On Oct. 17 buses
full of unionized workers and workers who want to be in unions
will be rolling in to the capital to rally at the Lincoln
Monument for guaranteed health insurance, a raise in workers'
wages, and a dramatic expansion of workers' rights."
Organizing efforts continue to build as the date nears.
"This rally, 'The Million Worker March,' proudly taking its
inspiration from a rally in Washington nine years ago, has
amassed the support of hundreds of local unions, and several
national trade unions including the American Postal Workers
Union, the National Education Associ a tion, the Coalition of
Black Trade Union ists, and the National Teamsters Black
Caucus," adds the release. "Some major regional labor
powerhouses such as the Health and Hospital Workers Local 1199
SEIU, and AFSCME District Council 37 in New York have added
their names as well as commitments to send busloads of workers
to the event.
"Actor and activist Danny Glover, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and
comedian and human rights campaigner Dick Gregory are scheduled
to address a sea of workers and anti-war protesters from the
exact spot on the steps of the Lincoln Monu ment where Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to the famous 1963 civil rights
rally."
MWM Committee Trea surer Keith Shanklen, a member of ILWU
Local 10, says that following in the footsteps of Dr. King is
the right thing to do because, "in this time of profit-mad
globalization, all one needs do is look at the silent
catastrophe of lost jobs, dwindling wages, lost healthcare
along with one abuse and indignity after another that is the
plight of your average worker, and you have to conclude that
the struggle for workers' rights is the new civil rights
movement of our time."
Organizers meet with park officials
MWM organizers on Oct. 4 met for the third time with
officials from the National Parks Department, which has
jurisdiction over the Lincoln Monument, and Metro Police to
finalize permit agreements for the rally, which will begin at
12 noon, after pre-rally entertainment beginning at 11 a.m.
"After meeting at the Parks Department offices, Shank and
his team of event coordinators and technicians surveyed the
sight of the rally, going over everything, from where sound
system speakers would be placed, and where elevated platforms
would be constructed for the media, to where portable restrooms
would be placed," the news release continues.
"A few important things are yet to be finalized, such as
where the hundreds of buses full of marchers will drop their
passengers off. Metro Police prefer that buses drop people off
long distances away from the rally site, while Million Worker
March organizers want the buses to bring passengers directly
to, or at least near the Lincoln Monument.
"Organizers are also making contingent plans for a
solidarity march to one of the unionized hotels in downtown
D.C., either in the event of a hotel workers' strike, or if
contract talks between Local 25 of Unite HERE and hotel owners
have not been resolved."
For more information about the Million Worker March, call
(202) 232-0057 or visit www.MillionWorkerMarch.org.
Reprinted from the Oct. 14, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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