Minnesota May 1 march gaining steam
_Unions, workers and immigrants will unite for International Workers Day _
St. Paul, MN – On May 1 workers, unions and immigrants will march together to the capitol in Saint Paul to demand justice for workers, to defend workers’ freedom to organize and to demand legalization and full equality for immigrant workers. The march will be held on the 125th anniversary of International Workers Day, or May Day.
This year immigrant rights groups in the Twin Cities came together and united with many of the important unions in the area, including HERE Local 17, SEIU Local 26, AFSCME Local 3800 and UTU Local 660. Religious organizations, student groups, peace groups and the left are also mobilizing for the march. The march will feature speakers from many of the important and inspiring struggles of workers, unions and immigrants over the past year.
This unity comes in the face of blistering attacks from the Minnesota state legislature against unions, workers and immigrants. Last November the Republicans took control of the state legislature for the first time in decades. They came out swinging, firing off dozens of bills in rapid succession that can only be described as a declaration of class war by the rich against the working class and the poor.
A series of Wisconsin-like bills would take away public workers’ right to a union, dramatically cut their wages, lay off 15% of the workforce, slash pensions and privatize many public services. Their budget also deeply slashes the public services that working class and poor people depend on for survival. Their proposed cuts to welfare, social services, public higher education and other services are draconian. Many bills would make Minnesota a ‘right to work’ state, which unions say really means a ‘right to work for less state,’ where unions are sharply restricted.
And the legislature unleashed a slew of bills attacking immigrants, such as a racist and anti-immigrant bill to make English the official language of the state, and other bills to make Minnesota look more like Arizona in its hostility to immigrants. Minnesota’s Governor Dayton, a Democrat, vowed to oppose many of the Republican attacks and cuts. But Gov. Dayton’s budget proposal also includes some cuts to social services that groups like the Welfare Rights Committee oppose.
According to Rick Castillo, an AFSCME Local 3800 Executive Board member who is organizing for the May 1 march, “In the face of the Minnesota legislature’s attacks on workers, unions and immigrants, it’s vital to stand together and say no to the attacks. That’s what we’ll do on May 1. Everyone should join us in Saint Paul at 4:00 p.m. at the Cathedral to march to the Capitol on International Workers Day. Lawmakers must see the rising tide of people who will be silent no more.”