"WE ARE ONE" ROCHESTER RALLY DRAWS HUNDREDS OF SUPPORTERS; SOLIDARITY AND WORKER RIGHTS FRONT AND CENTER



CSEA joined several other labor groups and their supporters at a late
afternoon rally on the steps of Rochester City Hall. Organizers estimate
that nearly 450 people attended while enduring one-degree wind chill temperatures.
(Photo: Ove Overmyer)

  Rochester, N.Y.-- Hundreds of members of the area’s largest labor unions and their community supporters braved wickedly cold temperatures on March 2 to gather in front of Rochester City Hall to support union workers in Wisconsin and other states. The message was a simple one: Workers deserve the right to collectively bargain and the local labor community stands tall with the Wisconsin and Ohio workers.

For nearly two hours, approximately 450 people withstood one-degree wind chills on Church Street in downtown Rochester in a show of union solidarity.

The Raging Grannies, a well-known local vocal performance group, warmed up the crowd by singing "Solidarity Forever" as the leaders of the local labor movement congregated behind them on the steps of City Hall. A total of eight speakers rallied the crowd, all who at one time or another repeatedly shouted: “We are one! We are one! We are one!”


Jim Bertolone addresses the "We Are One" rally protestors
on the steps of City Hall in Rochester, N.Y. on March 2.
(photo:  Ove Overmyer)

First to speak was Jim Bertolone, president of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.  He shouted into the public address system, “All right, brothers and sisters, are we one with Wisconsin? Are we one?  I know that this is not what Wisconsin voted for.”  The crowd spontaneously erupted in cheers and applause.

Courtney Brunelle, CSEA WNY Region 6 Political Action Coordinator, who comes from a large family of working-class teachers, spoke last and rallied the chilly crowd into a chanting frenzy.

Brunelle said, "The cuts that Governor Cuomo is proposing would devastate our communities and the most vulnerable New Yorkers. The mentally ill, senior citizens, the poor and the worst of all-- our children would suffer the most."

Brunelle also thanked Republican Governor Walker, saying he is mostly responsible for waking a sleeping giant. She said, "When the Wisconsin governor began to try to take away nearly all collective bargaining rights from state workers, he may have unintentionally given the American labor movement the lift it needed after all these years."

"We gather today to remind our community and anyone who will listen that our democracy cannot function without workers and management being allowed to engage in dialogue," said Bess Watts, Local 828 president. She told the Voice Reporter, "Collective bargaining is the heart and soul of worker rights."

Organizers estimate that nearly 450 people attended a rally in
Rochester, New York to support collective bargaining rights and
the Wisconsin Workers.
(photo:  Ove Overmyer)

Wisconsin workers are still fighting proposed deep cuts to collective bargaining rights for nearly all of the state’s public workers, posed by legislation supported by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Union leaders in Indiana and Ohio are organizing to fight similar anti-union proposals there.

In a NYT/CBS poll that was released March 1, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits.

CSEA was joined by AFSCME, the Federation of Social Workers, Public Employees Federation, Teamsters Local 118, New York State United Teachers, BENTE, Communication Workers of America, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, United Auto Workers, Rochester Teachers Association, United Steelworkers, Service Employees International Union and other workers representing Rochester’s firefighters and police unions.



CSEA:  We stand in solidarity with the Wisconsin workers.
(photo:  Ove Overmyer)