This past Tuesday on the steps of City Hall, the organizations that have sponsored May Day rallies at Foley Square and Union Square appear together to announce a new unity of message and action under the slogan “May Day Our Day.”
According to leaders of both coalitions, the two groups decided to seek the greatest cooperation possible this year to amplify their shared opposition to the current attacks on labor union rights and immigrant workers.
Like last year, there will be two major May Day rallies in New York City. The Labor Rights, Immigrant Rights, Jobs for All Coalition will once again mount a rally in Foley Square organized by many of the city’s major unions, religious leaders and immigrant rights organizations. In Union Square, the May 1st Coalition for Worker & Immigrant Rights, comprised of many community organizations, immigrant groups and some labor contingents, will assemble at the historic site to hear speakers and follow their rally with a march to Foley Square. Plans call for leaders of both groups to address the combined crowd and end the day together on the Foley Square stage.
“We stand united in full support of labor and worker rights,” says Sonia Ivany, Co-chair of the Foley Square Rally and President of the NYC Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, LCLAA. “And we call on all people of good will to join in denouncing the ongoing attacks on labor, bargaining rights, wages, benefits and the indelible right of all workers to join unions throughout this nation. We stand united for immigrant rights, for a legalization process, workplace rights and for end to mass deportations and hate crimes waged on immigrant communities. We are also very encouraged by the support of the youth, college students and even high school students who plan to join our rally this year.”
Speaking on behalf of the May 1st Coalition, Teresa Gutierrez, International Migrant Alliance, International Action Center Co-Coordinator, says: “The May 1st Coalition welcomes the fact that organizers of the Union and Foley Square rallies will close May Day with a joint message of unity. Since 2005, the May 1st Coalition has held massive May Day rallies at Union Square. With the news that over a million immigrants have been deported since 2008 mainly through the Secure Communities program, solidarity is necessary if we are going to succeed in stopping the deportations and defending the rights of all workers. Let’s bring the spirit of Wisconsin to New York City so that immigrants can win the legalization that is long overdue them and so that all workers, with or without documents, can have the right to a job, education, health care, pensions, collective bargaining and so on. This guarantees “Secure Communities” more than the deportations.”
Kevin Lynch, Co-chair of Labor Rights, Immigrant Rights, Jobs for All Coalition, points out that the labor rights under attack in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana are fundamental human rights guaranteed by international treaties and conventions. “As the state with the highest union density, we see clearly that the Tea Party Governors in some states have a radically different view of our country,” he says. “We are also alarmed that tens of thousands of immigrant workers in our city are forced to work at dangerous jobs paying sub-minimum wages, no overtime pay, no sick days, holidays or benefits of any sort. This year, it’s important that we all come together and speak with one voice.”
Chris Silvera, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 808 and a Co-Coordinator of the Union Square Rally, states: “In Colonial New York at Foley Square Africans and Irish workers fought to break the oppression of indenture and enslavement. Later Union Square came to represent that place where workers joined together to express their resistance to oppression. Globally workers are rising up against the bankers and global financiers to protect their class interest. American workers must take a leadership role in the struggle for workers rights.”
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