GOP DELEGATES MAY GET SOME SURPRISES: TRUTH COMMISSIONS, 'POOR PEOPLE'S MARCH,' ANTI-BUSH BUS, SEIU DEMONSTRATION

(PAI)GOP DELEGATES MAY GET SOME SURPRISES: TRUTH COMMISSIONS,  'POOR PEOPLE'S MARCH,' ANTI-BUSH BUS, SEIU DEMONSTRATION

By Workday Minnesota and Press Associates

 

            MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL (PAI)--Republican convention delegates arriving in Minnesota’s Twin Cities for the party’s Sept. 1-4 conclave may get some surprises, courtesy the labor movement and its allies.

 

            Among them: An SEIU-sponsored protest across the Mississippi River from the convention hall on Labor Day--headlined by union President Andy Stern--the anti-Bush rolling “Bush Legacy Bus” sponsored by the AFL-CIO, Change To Win and other groups, and truth commissions in Minneapolis exposing the reality of poverty, by the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign.

 

            Whether the GOP delegates--or the mainstream media--will pay any attention to all of this is another matter.  They’ll be busy approving the nomination of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for the presidency, and approving a party platform that includes strong backing of jobs-losing “free trade” treaties.  And a Google search of the 51-page document shows the word “labor” is not even used.

 

            The truth commissions, which started Aug. 1, will be one main protest. In each town, the group hosted discussions and media events designed to expose the real toll of poverty, including the lack of adequate housing and health care.

 

            On Sept. 2, the campaign plans to lead thousands of people through the streets of St. Paul to draw attention to the economic policies that left them and their allies battling homelessness and poverty.  Some participants will engage in non-violent civil disobedience to serve the Republicans with a "citizen's arrest."

 

            "It's time for low-income families across America to stand up and stand together," stated Cheri Honkala, the campaign’s national organizer. "We need to demand that our voices are heard and that the daily human rights violations we are experiencing are exposed and ended."

 

            The poor people’s campaign wants unionists to join them, citing the growing burden on all working families and the strong need for solidarity.  It already has support from UNITE HERE, The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and other worker centers.

 

            SEIU’s “Take Back Labor Day” festival--the convention opens on the holiday honoring workers--features Stern, speeches and songs, among other things. It “aims to combine world-class music, cutting-edge activism and family fun to put working Americans' concerns on the national agenda.”   The anti-Bush bus, which was on display at the Democratic convention, too, features exhibits criticizing his war in Iraq, his war on workers, his energy policy and his education law, among other issues.  ###