Milwaukee May Day march opposes Governor Walker’s agenda
Milwaukee, WI – May 1, International Workers’ Day, several thousand marched here in defense of workers and immigrants.
Organized by Voces de la Frontera, this year’s march focused on recent attacks by Governor Scott Walker’s administration’s against workers, including the recent ‘right to work’ law passed in March.
On the immigrant rights front, marchers condemned Walker for signing onto the injunction that has tied up President Obama’s recent administrative relief for the undocumented in the courts. While not nearly enough, Obama’s DAPA program and expansion of DACA would provide relief to nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants if it was not for the injunction. The immigrant rights movement continues to demand for legalization and protection for all 11 million undocumented immigrants, and an immediate end to all deportations.
Since 2011, Governor Walker has led a reactionary attack on the working class in Wisconsin, crippling public sector unions, gutting public schools and social service, and limiting voting rights for the poor. Since Walkers’ re-election in November, public universities have faced a $300 million budget cut and ‘right-to-work’ has passed into law, with more anti-worker legislation on the horizon.
The march was led by hundreds of high school and college students associated with Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), the youth arm of Voces. “We’re marching in solidarity with all students from Wisconsin public universities that have been and will be affected by budget cuts,” said Oscar Hernandez, a leader in YES and a student at UW-Milwaukee. “We need all students, teachers and community members to mobilize in order to resist these cuts to public education.”
The march ended in a rally at the Milwaukee County Court House, where several speakers, including members of YES, called on the crowd to continue the fight against Walker’s government.