Unions, immigrant workers and students from all over the country united in Union Square on May 1 in recognition of International Workers' Day. The rally and march were organized by the May 1st Coalition for Workers and Immigrants' Rights to protest austerity, racism and cutbacks. Some of the organizations present in solidarity included the Bail Out the People Movement, International Longshore Workers' Local 10 and New Immigrant Community Empowerment.
Gilbert Johnson came from Wisconsin to participate in the rally. "I am here to make a connection with workers that share the same struggles," he said. "I just want to let everyone know that we agreed with Gov. Scott Walker when he said that Wisconsin was broke," he continued. "They are morally broke. The government is broken. There is a huge amount of nepotism and cronyism. Those are the things that make Wisconsin broke because I know that the state is financially sound."
"This goes back to the Million Worker March movement. We marched on Washington in 2004. We knew then that the workers were not understood," said Charles Jenkins of TWU Local 100 and one of the founding members of the May Day coalition for this year's event. "It was important to have a Million Worker March to raise questions for workers' rights, the unemployed and the under-employed."
Jenkins stressed that the May Day celebration was a historical platform, not just for private and public sector workers but for the immigrant workforce as well.
Even those who were there in support but didn't get a chance to take the stage had suggestions for the administration. "We stand with workers," declared Thanu Yakupitiyage, a representative from New York Immigration Coalition. "We are against deportation. We would like President Obama to stop unjust deportation. We are looking for a solution to our broken immigration system."
The rally managed to resuscitate the immigrant workers' movement as labor leaders applauded the impact of the rally from afar. Hector Figueroa, secretary treasurer of 32BJ, one of the largest immigrants' unions in the country, was unable to speak at the rally but issued the following statement:
"The Tea Party-driven, corporate-funded agenda aimed at gutting vital services to most Americans while cutting taxes on the ultra-rich is hampering our economic recovery and widening the already dangerous gap between the very wealthy and everybody else. Our economic recovery depends on strengthening the middle class, not undercutting them with unfair and disproportionate share of the tax burden."
