On
April 9, in coordination and solidarity with union organized “We
Are One” rallies taking place around the country, 10,000 workers,
students and activists converged on Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago.
The demonstration was called by representatives of the Chicago
Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, SEIU Local 1, AFSCME, UNITE HERE Local
1, the Chicago Teachers Union, the Illinois Education Association and
the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
The
rally included speakers representing workers’ unions and
organizations from all over Illinois and surrounding states. Susan
Vecchione, a worker at the Rutledge Hall Elementary School in
Lincolnwood, Ill., told the crowd that the war on unions being waged
across the country is a threat to all workers. “If it can happen in
Wisconsin, it can happen here,” Vecchione said, reassuring that,
“We are strong and we are united.”
The
rally’s main speaker was retired AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William
Lucy. Lucy was with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tenn.
fighting for the rights of municipal workers on April 4, 1968, when
King was assassinated. Lucy made clear to the crowd that if Dr. King
had not been tragically gunned down that fateful day that he would be
in the streets with the workers.
“If
Dr. King was alive today he would be standing with the workers and
students and citizens of Wisconsin. He would be marching with the
workers and citizens of Ohio, Indiana…and every other place where
workers’ rights are being taken away or threatened or denied.
“In
a nation where one percent of the people own 33 percent of the wealth
and the remaining 99 percent of us have to scuffle for our share of
what’s left, there’s something wrong with that picture.”
Members
of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and the
Party for Socialism and Liberation raised a banner reading “Tax the
Rich! End the Wars!” and gathered hundreds of petitions and
distributed material to the many workers in attendance who agreed
with the perspective. Every day, the bald -faced lies of the ruling
class are being exposed as workers are beginning to realize that the
answer to budget shortfalls is not the dismantling of workers’
rights. The only answer is to make Wall Street, the Koch brothers and
the billionaire’s Tea Party puppets pay for their
crisis!
