New Haven, Conn.: Thousands Rally in Solidarity with Workers under Siege

by Gonzalo Baeza  |  August 09, 2011

More than 3,000 union members and their progressive allies marched on the streets on New Haven, Conn. The rally was one of the hundreds of We Are One events nationwide to stand in solidarity with workers under attack in dozens of states and to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., where he travelled in support of sanitation workers fighting to form a union with AFSCME. More than ever, his struggle for workers rights is a timely reminder of what’s at stake for the middle class.

As AFSCME Local 3429 (Council 4) member Claudine Wilkins-Chambers, a paraprofessional in the New Haven School System for 41 years, said: “We can not honor the dreamer but allow the politicians and the corporations to trample on the dream.” See the video of her remarks here:

The residents of New Haven are already familiar with these attacks, considering Mayor John DeStefano and his supporters’ plan to undermine public services. Invoking allegedly high pension and health care benefit costs, DeStefano recently laid off 96 city workers, including 16 police officers represented by AFSCME Local 530 (Council 15). The decision garnered harsh criticism from local citizens concerned about their safety and the fact that, according to FBI statistics, New Haven is the 18th most violent city in the country.

Click here for Council 4’s Flickr photo gallery and check out video of the rally from The New Haven Register.