Grab your sneakers, a broad coalition of labor groups and community partners have announced plans to mobilize in San Diego as part of a massive nationwide day of action on on Feb. 24 to protest attacks against working people. The “Working People’s Day of Action” will span events in dozens of cities across the country, with tens of thousands expected to take action.
Thousands of San Diegans will rally at Convention Center Park to call for an end to policies and initiatives that are aimed at rigging the economy and political system against working people.
The Working People’s Day of Action happens just days before the Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, a case funded by billionaires and corporate interests to attack the rights of working people. Inspired by Dr. King and the sanitation workers who went on strike in Memphis 50 years ago, the Working People’s Day of Action comes amid a resurgence in grassroots efforts to defend basic freedoms, including the right to join together in unions.
“Service and Patient Care workers at the University of California are working harder than ever, but still face remnants of the persistent inequality that united our brothers and sisters generations ago,” says Michael Avant, UC San Diego Patient Transporter and AFSCME Local 3299 member. “Standing together on Feb. 24 is just as important today as it would’ve been 50 years ago. Together we can win dignity, a decent living, and make our voices heard.”
“A bad decision in the Janus case is not just a blow to workers’ rights on the job, it is a threat to public education,” said Kelly Mathew, community college professor and AFT Local 1931 member. “The same moneyed interests that are behind Janus are also bent on destroying American public education and profiting from its destruction. Anyone who cares about American education should be disturbed by this.”
As billionaires and corporate special interests, aided by the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress, ramp up efforts to scale back labor and voting rights and the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 case, recent reports indicate that the economic and political systems continue to enrich only a few. Meanwhile, fewer than 40 percent of Americans can afford a minor emergency and more than 80 percent of the world’s wealth is going to the top 1 percent.
In addition to San Diego, Working People’s Day of Action events are already planned in Memphis, Washington, DC, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, Saint Paul, New York, Columbus, and Philadelphia.
