Bronx rally defends jobs of Woodlawn Cemetery workers

‘Band of Sisters’ (backs to camera) sing in solidarity with cemetery workers. WW photo: Michael Otto

A strong rally of union and community activists converged on Woodlawn Cemetery’s entrance in the northwest Bronx on Presidents’ Day, Feb. 21, to show solidarity with the workers there. They brought a message for management: “You will not get ‘contractors’ through these gates!”

The rally moved to nearby Woodlawn Heights, where the recently hired union-busting consultant Mitch Rose lives. Cemetery bosses are preparing a deal with a notorious low-paying contractor, who exploits immigrant workers, to replace unionized workers.

A vice president at Woodlawn, Rose has accompanied management’s lawyer to the negotiating table with the workers. Marchers let Rose know he should look for a different job.

While the crowd stood in front of Rose’s home, singers from the Bail Out the People Movement — Heather, Jen, Dinae and Aya — sang a moving and original song about the Woodlawn workers, the legendary Band of Brothers, and Teamsters Local 808, which represents them.

Ramon Jimenez of the South Bronx Community Congress and the Freedom Party urged people to come to an action-planning meeting at Hostos College on March 5. “We need to forge a student-labor-community alliance to win at Woodlawn and stop [New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo and [New York City Mayor Michael] Bloomberg’s attacks on all city workers,” he said.

Rick Coss, a leader of the Band of Brothers and Teamsters Local 808 steward at Woodlawn, told Workers World, “The winds of Cairo have blown to Wisconsin and the winds in Wisconsin are blowing to Ohio, heading to New York. Here things are building so that wind will be a tornado!”

Coss added, “We honor Black History month, and Malcolm X, who was martyred on this day. Malcolm said there’s going to be a class struggle between the oppressed and the oppressors, between the working class and the ruling class. It’s not going to be based on color but on class. Bloomberg, Cuomo and [President Barack] Obama are going to have to face such a tornado.”

The rally was led by Local 808 leader Chris Silvera, together with Jimenez. Teamsters represented included Locals 111, 202, 210, 804, 805, 807, 814, 831 and 1205, as well as 808. Local 805 President Sandy Pope told Workers World that these locals cover numerous sectors, including warehouse workers, United Parcel Service drivers, MetroNorth Railroad employees, among others.

Present were members of the carpenters union, District Council 37 Local 374, representing workers at New York Botanical Gardens; District 32BJ-Schools Division; and Service Employees union District 1199-Health Division. Members of Amalgamated Transport Workers Local 1181, Transport Workers Union Local 100; and David Virella, president of TWU Local 501 were there. They were joined by the United Federation of Teachers, New York State United Teachers and the Professional Staff Congress/American Federation of Teachers at City University of New York.

A special delegation came from UNITE HERE Local 100. These cafeteria workers at Bronx Community College face summary layoffs on March 1, when management plans to bring in a contractor who uses minimum-wage workers. Their situation is much like that of the Woodlawn workers.

Workers World spoke with members of the local, who are planning a March 1 rally to force management to cancel plans to replace them. Silvera called them to speak to the crowd and said their struggle is one with that of the Woodlawn workers.

Community groups present included the South Bronx Community Congress, the Freedom Party, Church of the Resurrection, New Day United Methodist Church and Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. Also represented were the Bronx Green Party, Bail Out the People Movement, May 1 Coalition for Workers’ and Immigrants’ Rights, Million Worker March Movement, Women’s Fightback Network and Workers World Party.

Among immigrant rights groups was Mujeres por la Paz (Women for Peace), who had visited the Woodlawn gravesite of suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton on Feb. 12. This “Band of Sisters” used the occasion to demand a union contract and no layoffs for the Woodlawn workers.

Campaign to target Woodlawn Trustees

Rocio Silverio of the Bail Out the People Movement told the rally, “The Woodlawn Board of Trustees is charged with protecting the integrity and public image of Woodlawn.”

Silverio described plans to pressure the trustees. “This will give the workers a shot in the arm,” she said, noting that Woodlawn management has tried to divide the workers. Targeted trustees include Ricardo Fernandez, president of Lehman College; Mercedes Ellington, granddaughter of legendary Duke Ellington, who is buried at Woodlawn; and Ruth Abrams, a founder of the Tenement Museum, who appears to have a commitment to people’s rights.

“I don’t know what her commitment is to immigrants and workers today who are facing the same dilemma as those earlier immigrants, but we want to ask about that,” Silverio emphasized.

To send letters to Mitch Rose on behalf of the Woodlawn workers, write to him at 345 E. 236th St., 2nd floor, Bronx, NY 10470.