2014 MEDIA ADVISORY
What: May Day Rally and March
When: May 1, 2014: Gather at 2:00.. Rally at 3:00.. March at 4:00
Where: SW Park Blocks at SW Salmon St. and SW Park Ave.
INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY RALLY AND MARCH FOR
“PEOPLE OVER PROFIT.”
PORTLAND, OREGON April 22,2014 - As we approach International Workers Day in 2014, we find ourselves facing unprecedented cuts to public services including education, street and park maintenance, social services, unemployment insurance and much more. As a result we are seeing a rapid increase in symptoms of poverty including houselessness and food insecurity. Along with all of this we continue to experience attacks on people of color, immigrants, working families, women, students and the right to organize.
Plans for the annual May Day march and rally in Portland are taking form as a broad range of community organizations and labor advocacy groups, including local unions, prepare to celebrate International Worker’s Day. “The gap between the haves and the have nots continues to widen as corporate control of the economy grows and government corruption increases,” said Ben Marston of Unite Here, a union representing low wage hotel workers. “Our members struggle to make ends meet and often have to rely on social services such as food stamps even though they work full time. Workers are starting to fight back as we have seen recently with unions like the Portland Association of Teachers, the city workers of DCTU and the Professors at PSU who all threatened to strike in order to force good faith negotiations and a fair contract.”
According to Romeo Sosa of the immigrant rights organization Voz,“The immigrant population has always played a major role in the May Day event. Despite a growing attack on undocumented workers and their families, the community is standing strong in saying 'no more' to deportations that are separating children and parents.” Sosa continues, “We have collaborated with unions and community groups like Jobs with Justice and the homeless advocacy group Right 2 Dream Too. We see that our struggle against this corrupt system connects us all and that through solidarity we will become strong enough to create a new and just world.”
People will begin to gather at the South Park Blocks at 2:00 PM and the rally begins at 3:00 PM with speakers and musicians who will communicate the challenge to the community to confront issues of poverty wages, homelessness, wage theft, foreclosures, unemployment, racial and gender inequality, the need for a just and humane immigration reform, climate change and other affects of the systemic attack on working people. At 4:00 PM a march will begin through downtown Portland and will end back at the South Park Blocks at about 5:30 PM when there will be a short wrap up rally with some entertainment and speakers.
Contacts:
Greg Margolis...olismarg@aol.com...
Marco Mejia...mejiayep@yahoo.com...5
Endorsed by:
*VOZ Workers Rights Education Project *Portland Jobs with Justice *United Auto Workers *Industrial Workers of the World - Portland *PSU American Association of University Professors *Oregon Fair Trade Campaign *Oregon Jericho *Dare to Struggle *Service Employees International Union - Local 503 *Portland Peaceful Response Coalition *Oregon Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals *Portland Anarchist Black Cross *Portland Central America Solidarity Committee *United Brotherhood of Carpenters - Local 156 *American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees *Oregon AFL-CIO *Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines *All-African People’s Revolutionary Party *Portland Solidarity Network *American Friends Service Committee *Right to Survive *International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers - Local Lodge 1005 *Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Portland *Right 2 Dream 2 *American Federation of Teachers - Oregon *National Association of Letter Carriers - Branch 82 *Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon *International Longshore and Warehouse Union *Hella 503 *Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice *Comite De Solidaridad Y Apoyo Mutuo
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MEDIA ADVISORY
26 April 2012
Contact: Marco Mejia email: mejiayep@yahoo.com phone: 503.740.8035 and Jason
Sheckler email: jasonsheckler@gmail.com phone: 503.936.0113
Groups prepare for May Day action as kickoff to 'Spring Bloom': We will not be divided!
What: The annual May Day rally and march will offer a united front of all workers!
This year we are embracing the spirit of power and resistance to demand the rights
of immigrants to work and live freely, the right to a fair wage for a day's work, and
an end police-ICE [Immigration & Customs Enforcement] collaboration, among
other things. This May Day action will weave through downtown Portland targeting
those institutions that are in current labor struggles, deport family-members, and
refuse to access to basic needs.
When: May 1, 2012 Rally at 3:30, March at 4:30
Where: SW Park Blocks at SW Salmon St. and SW Park Ave.
Who: May Day is organized by the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition and the
May Day Coalition, comprised of more than a dozen local groups, unions, and faith
organizations.
Why: Marco Mejia, organizer with the May Day Coalition says: “All workers, no
matter the country that they live in, their age, education level, or the language they
speak should be able to make enough money to put a roof over their family's head
and put food on the table. May Day is a celebration around the world for all workers,
paid and unpaid, employed and unemployed, high-wage and low-wage: we are
united. May Day is a taste of what is to come this year.”
April 26th, Press Conference
Spanish language May Day commerical
