03) THOUSANDS RALLY FOR MAY FIRST IN USA

     The emergence of the Occupy movement last fall has given a huge boost to May Day celebrations in the United States. After decades on the back-burner, May Day was revived in 2006 by a walkout of immigrant workers across the country, and this year proved that the international day of the worker has returned to stay in the land of its origins.

     In New York, according to the People's World website, "Unionists, Occupy Wall Street supporters, immigrants, women, LGBT activists and the disabled filled Union Square from one end to the other on May Day. The message from the stage was loud and clear: `We are the 99%; unions, students and immigrants, all of us together can make a better world!' The New York Labor Chorus sang `Solidarity Forever,' and the crowd roared the chorus `and the union makes us strong'!"

     People came from as far away as Delaware and Maryland to join the New York celebration. Homemade signs denounced greed and demanded government funding of human needs.

     Bands, puppeteers and dancers led many of the contingents, which included the transit workers union, Teamsters, UniteHERE and The Taxi Workers Alliance ‑ with their cabs. The crowd marched on Wall Street and ended at Battery Park.

     In the San Francisco Bay area, PW correspondent Marilyn Bechtel reported that "unions and immigrant rights organizations marked May Day with picket lines, rallies and marches around the region. Unity was the theme, and health care was a prime issue, as janitors, nurses, bus drivers, ferry workers, city workers and immigration reform groups campaigned in an overall framework of rights for the 99 percent."

     In San Francisco, hundreds of janitors and their supporters picketed a downtown mall, supporting SEIU Local 87 members waging contract battles with Macy's and Bloomingdales. Some 3,500 janitors are involved in contract talks now underway in the city.

     "It's totally unfair that janitors who keep stores and malls in super‑duper shape don't have decent wages and benefits," Local 87 President Olga Miranda said before the rally. "Companies are trying to have janitors pay lots of money for family health care. Many janitors only work part time; some could end up working just to pay for their family health care."

     Registered nurses at Sutter Health, members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, held a one‑day strike at 10 facilities in different area cities. The union said some 4,500 nurses and other professionals were affected by the walkout.

     Sutter has made over $4 billion in profits since 2007, and pays its CEO $4.7 million a year, but is demanding big cuts from its RNs, including forcing them to work while sick and to pay thousands in increased costs for health care.

     Alameda Labor Council head Josie Camacho pledged the backing of the council which represents 100,000 workers. "We know [Sutter] is making tremendous profits off the backs of not just the nurses, but the patients," she said. "We pledge to stand with the nurses as you continue your fight."

     Members of the Inland Boatmen's Union held a morning strike, forcing ferry commuters from the North Bay to find other ways into San Francisco.

     "We have been negotiating in good faith for one year now," said IBU member Rene Alvarado. "The district says they appreciate workers, but they have shown no appreciation at the bargaining table. We deserve a fair contract and health care for our families and retirees."

     Wrapping up the day in Oakland, thousands of immigrant rights campaigners and labour unions gathered in a heavily Latino part of the city and marched five miles to City Hall. Led by Aztec dancers, a marching band and a drum corps, a diverse crowd including immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East as well as from Mexico and Latin America, demanded a fair immigration policy.

(The above article is from the May 16-31, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)