News and views from Indianapolis about the Union/Worker's Rally at the Capitol this noon. The best sign found at the rally was:
Rally officials have a large canvas sheet spread out on the ground for those attending to sign. Every day they change it and put out another one. When the Capitol opens following the rallies, they hang these canvases from the balcony to show the legislators the number of Indiana citizens attending and signing their names in support of Unions and Fair Wages in this state. I signed it in the lower corner (see Picture):
Many in attendance after finding parking...see our wonderful Republicant Governor Mitch Daniels, and Republicant Mayor, Greg Ballard had all of the parking meters covered and police enforcing the "no parking today" for blocks and blocks around the Statehouse so anyone wishing to attend the rally would have to walk more than a half mile to be there. This didn't deter most people - just made them late to arrive. So Mitch Daniels got his share of the posters parodying his "My Man Mitch" campaign slogan:
Speakers included Union leaders, local Labor leaders such as Allison Luthe, lead organizer for Central Indiana Jobs With Justice, shown below on the cover of our local Nuvo publication: Others included non-Union speakers who spoke in support of fair wages and Union support.
Many brought their kids and they held signs in support of Unions and workers.
I spoke to several union representatives about wages, prison industries and how corporations have moved civilian jobs into prison to avoid paying fair wages. Some were receptive to the issue - others just appeared not to understand how private sector wages could be impacted by the work being done by prisoners. These folks have a lot to learn about where thousands of union and non-union jobs here in the U.S. have gone. Not all of them are lost to foreign labor.
Here are some more pix of the rally:
As you can see from the attire, it was under 40 degrees here but that didn't stop a couple of hundred from attending...and as we were leaving there were many more headed that way, signs in hand. Spoke to many teachers, metal workers, food service and related workers today. Just about every job description was represented at the rally by one or more workers. Stickers were handed out by the union workers there, as were handouts on labor issues and contact numbers of groups to call for more information on the proposed bills in the Indiana House and Senate.
The AFL/CIO had a support rally scheduled for this afternoon at 3:00 pm in Illinois just two hours west of Indy at the Motor Inn where the Indy Dems are staying after walking out of the assembly during the right to work legislative debate put forth by the Republicants.
As the picture in the intro above demonstrates, the Koch brothers and Koch Industries were high on the list of those being protested against for their involvement in the politics here in Indy as well as Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and elsewhere. Lots of folks here angry with that bunch of corporate scumbags. I informed many that we refer to the "Evil Brothers" as Kochsuckers and Kochroaches...I think we'll see more of those terms used on blogs after today :)
City, County and State police were all around the statehouse during the demonstration/rally. They've had a strong presence there all week long due to the demonstrations going on over the legislation to impose right to work laws and to defund public education.
Ironically, there were union workers right across from the Capitol working on the roof of a building installing equipment. They had a crane and a couple of flatbed 18 wheelers with them and lent their support for the rally, by setting off their air-horns every couple of minutes and waving in support. A traffic light right in front of where we gathered on the steps and sidewalks kept the traffic nearly at a standstill as the construction work I mentioned had the four lanes narrowed down to two - and one of those a bus lane. Lots of horn honking and waving by those slowly driving by...and some parked their cars and came to join us, many with kids and strollers in tow.
Labor groups and representatives are planning on staying at the Capitol through tomorrow and next week in support of the missing Dem's and against the proposed Republican legislation. The right to work bill has been pulled and Governor Daniels has announced it is dead. But we all know that a bill once killed often times finds it's way back to the floor, so nobody is trusting his word. After all Daniels is a staunch Republican with conservative leanings and not to be trusted - regardless of what he says.
Thats it from Indy for now. Tomorrow I'll have more information and facts involving the use of inmate labor to take our jobs. Believe it or not many articles from across the U.S. now report that state and local governments are replacing hundreds of civilian workers with even more prisoners. We'll discuss that and look at the articles and facts and see how the Kochroaches are involved.