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April 4 Rallies Link Dr. King’s Legacy, Today’s Attacks

April 11, 2011

Several dozen members of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Local 405 traveled to a rally at the Iowa statehouse in Des Moines to protest anti-labor legislative proposals. Photo by Carl Olsen.

Unionists and progressive activists across the nation gathered on April 4th to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, who was assassinated on that day in 1968 while in Memphis, Tenn., to support sanitation workers in their struggle for a decent contract and dignity on the job.

IBEW members participated in many events that linked the labor struggles of the civil rights movement  to modern day challenges to collective bargaining and the rights of workers to organize.

In Memphis, IBEW members marched with sanitation workers, members of AFSCME Local 1733, who carried a banner that read “The Struggle Continues.”

One thousand union members gathered in Newburgh, N.Y. Sam Fratto, senior assistant business manager of New City, N.Y., Local 363 was quoted in the Mid-Hudson News:

People are afraid of the future, people are afraid of the present, so here we are right now we’re standing up for American workers just like we should be.

Several dozen members of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Local 405 traveled to a rally at the Iowa statehouse.

Hundreds rallied at the Oklahoma Capitol chanting “union power” and “workers unite.” The Tulsa World reported that union member David Eslick wore a pin that read, “Workers Rights are Human Rights.” Eslick told the newspaper:

If they bust the unions, then everybody’s going to be working for $5 an hour. And there won’t be anything we can do about it.

Multiple rallies were held in the San Francisco Bay area. Martinez Local 302  electrician Crystal Lavering gathered with 1,000 others on a bridge that links Solano and Contra Costa counties. Lavering told insideBayArea.com:

People take it for granted.  What do we need a union for?  Unions have earned workers eight-hour days, equal pay for men and women and child labor laws.

Medford, Ore., Local 659 Assistant Business Manager John Hutter joined 40 others in a rally at a park.  Hutter told the Mail Tribune:

We had the same attacks back then [Memphis strike] that we’re facing today. I just feel we don’t need to let our guard down.