Labor Marches Against War

(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.