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Part of the UE contingent in the HKonJ march. From left to right: William Newsome, Local 150; Rafael Garcia, L. 120; Vera Nedrick and Wilma Nedrick, L. 160; Deb Gornall, Eastern Region; Larsene Taylor, L. 150; Patrick Brown, L. 160; Ciscero Warren and Kenny Myatt, L. 150 |
UE Local 150 participated in 6th annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) march on February 11. This year's event was the biggest ever, with 12,000 to 14,000 participants, including 40 from UE.
Convened by the State NAACP, the HKonJ coalition includes 125 membership organizations from the labor, civil rights, immigrant rights, student, peace and faith communities, united around a 14-point program for social and economic justice. One of the planks in that program is "Collective Bargaining for Public Employees." The name of the coalition and march refers to the location of the North Carolina legislative building, on Jones Street in Raleigh.
This year's march focused especially on public employee issues, budget cuts, the need to tax the rich, voting rights, education, and racial injustice in the criminal justice system. Local 150 members were joined by UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley, Eastern Region President Deb Gornall, members from UE Local 160 in Virginia, and Rafael Garcia of UE Local 120, who drove all the way from Baltimore.
(See more photos from the march on UE's Facebook page.)