UE members marked International Workers’ Day in their communities and workplaces on May 1, joining marches, rallies and forums and wearing union t-shirts in the shop.
In Chicago, UE members joined a commemoration of the Haymarket Martyrs at Haymarket, then attended a forum on issues faced by temporary workers sponsored by UE allies Warehouse Workers for Justice. (Learn more about the history of May Day and the Haymarket Martyrs in this 2007 UE NEWS article.)
In Los Angeles, UE members joined thousands of other working people, including members of the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) in a mass march through downtown Los Angeles in support of workers’ and immigrants’ rights.
Joni Anderson of Local 1107, who attended a May Day rally at the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison, reports that “Satya Connors, the new mayor of Madison, welcomed people to the rally. She reminded us that all people, whatever their status, have a right to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition our government for needed change.” The main focus of the Madison rally was to support the right of all working people to get drivers’ licenses, regardless of immigration status.
In North Carolina, UE Local 150 members joined teachers who rallied in the state capital of Raleigh for more funding for public education and higher pay for teachers and school support workers. Local 150 members also joined the Durham Workers’ Assembly May Day march, and CAAMWU-UE Local 150 members at Cummins Rocky Mount Engine Plant wore red in solidarity with teachers and to call for pay fairness for Cummins workers and housekeeping and facility maintenance workers of C&W Services at RMEP.
In Vermont, members of Locals 203 and 255 held union t-shirt days in the shop. Both locals are getting ready to negotiate new contracts with their employers, City Market in Burlington and Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier.
Two UE leaders, Joel Faypon of Local 1008 and Armando Robles of Local 1110, were interviewed for an In These Times magazine article, “Why May Day Continues to Capture the Hearts and Imaginations of Workers.”