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Seeger rally draws hundreds in solidarity
Mar 04, 2011 7:10 am
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Pete Seeger at Solidarity Rally for Wisconsin labor held in Newburgh on March 3. From Hudson Valley Labor website."]
[/caption]Union members rallied in the Newburgh area in support of their counterparts at the Wisconsin State Capitol on the afternoon of Thursday, March 3. Pete Seeger lent his voice to the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation's gathering, singing "Solidarity Forever." Union leaders praised Wisconsin State Senators for refusing to allow what they call an attack on labor by that State's governor. "Turnout at the Newburgh Teamster Hall was greater than expected," reads a news note from the Federation. Over 850 were reported to be in attendance by regional publications. According to Mid Hudson News Network, Teamsters Secretary-Treasurer Adrian Huff said the labor issues faced in other states could migrant to this area. “This is a wakeup call to all the labor movement, what’s going on in the Northeast, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, soon to come into Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” he said. Also, Paul Ellis-Graham, president of the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation, had a message for their fellow union members in Wisconsin. “Just because we are in another part of the country, we know the battle you are fighting,” he said. “We have our own battles to fight and we are all going to fight them together.” Video footage of Seeger singing, placed on Facebook, was removed at some point earlier this morning.
[/caption]Union members rallied in the Newburgh area in support of their counterparts at the Wisconsin State Capitol on the afternoon of Thursday, March 3. Pete Seeger lent his voice to the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation's gathering, singing "Solidarity Forever." Union leaders praised Wisconsin State Senators for refusing to allow what they call an attack on labor by that State's governor. "Turnout at the Newburgh Teamster Hall was greater than expected," reads a news note from the Federation. Over 850 were reported to be in attendance by regional publications. According to Mid Hudson News Network, Teamsters Secretary-Treasurer Adrian Huff said the labor issues faced in other states could migrant to this area. “This is a wakeup call to all the labor movement, what’s going on in the Northeast, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, soon to come into Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” he said. Also, Paul Ellis-Graham, president of the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation, had a message for their fellow union members in Wisconsin. “Just because we are in another part of the country, we know the battle you are fighting,” he said. “We have our own battles to fight and we are all going to fight them together.” Video footage of Seeger singing, placed on Facebook, was removed at some point earlier this morning.