Labor Marches Against War
Monday, May 1, 2006(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Between fifteen and twenty thousand labor antiwar activists turned
out for last Saturday’s anti-war march in New York City, reports Michael
Eisenscher of US Labor Against the War (USLAW), one of the groups organizing the
event. Organizers estimate 350,000 or more people joined the March for Peace,
Justice and Democracy. “The trade union contingent was the largest, broadest
and most spirited of any in fifty years or more,” says Eisenscher, and “came
from across the country.” A highlight of the rally was “a powerful
denunciation of the war in Iraq by Roger Toussaint, President of Transit Workers
Union Local 100, who had been jailed followed a strike by NYC transit workers
embroiled in a struggle for a fair contract,” reports Eisenscher. Toussaint
addressed the relationship of the war in Iraq and the war at home against
working people and their unions. Local activist – and USLAW Co-Convenor --
Gene Bruskin greeted the crowd on behalf of USLAW. Pat McLaine of
Columbia, Maryland marched with Military Families Speak Out, saying "We’re
here to stand up against the war. We’re tired of seeing people get killed."
Six members of McLaine’s family have already been to Iraq, according to a
report in The New Standard.