CLEVELAND, October 3 – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, including the members of the Rail Conference, is fully supporting the Million Worker March Movement and their upcoming events in the nation’s Capitol.
The Teamsters are making a financial contribution to the Movement and encouraging members to participate in the March and other events slated for October 14-16 in Washington, D.C.
The Teamsters Union and the Million Worker March Movement share many goals, including reforming health care and the pension system, as well as fighting for living wages for all Americans.
The current attacks on workers have made the stakes higher for black workers in particular, and the working class in general, much higher than in years past. In fact, 95 percent of all African Americans are workers; 30 percent of African Americans workers are union members and make up an important segment of the labor movement; nearly 50 percent are women, and 55 percent live in the U.S. South, where right-to-work laws are part of the Southern states structure as a low wage region, with the lowest percentage of unionized workers.
In 1995, the Million Man March mobilized close to two million people to Washington, D.C. It helped to propel successive grass roots mobilizations over a 10 year period as represented by the Million Women’s, Million Family, Million Youth, Million Reparations and Million Worker marches; the latter helping to spawn an independent workers movement.
“The labor movement needs to support all workers,” BLET National President Don M. Hahs said. “This event provides us one more opportunity to forge alliances with groups that share our goals.”