PITTSBURGH, PA. - Marching through the streets of Pittsburgh, it was the largest crowd that I have seen on May Day in my decade of covering them in Pittsburgh.
The protest came in the wake of deadly storms that left more than 200,000 in Pittsburgh without power. Miracle Jones, the public policy director of 1hood Media, told a crowd of nearly 800 that the storms were a reminder of the importance of workers.
“The past 72 hours have shown people how important workers are to this region,” says Jones. “There have been individuals from all across the country that have driven to Pennsylvania to help restore the electricity with Duquesne Light. There have been workers who've been sleeping in their trucks. The past 72 hours have shown that people aren’t being paid what they deserve.”
On May Day, the full scale of energy uniting the left was seen in Pittsburgh as people marched under the slogan “Border walls have got to go, from Palestine to Mexico.”
Latino labor council leader Guilmero Perez says that the crowd was the largest in his decade of organizing, the largest crowd ever.
“We've been doing this since 2014 and this is the biggest turnout we have ever had,” said Perez. “Immigrants are under attack in a way people haven't seen before, and people are concerned, because we know it starts with immigrants, but it doesn't end with immigrants.”
Wearing a button featuring Irish and Palestinian flags reading “Irish Americans Against Genocide,” United Electrical Workers (UE) North East President George Waksumunski said these May Day protests demonstrated the ”big umbrella energy” of having such a diverse movement.
“We've never seen so much mobilization. Our unions getting out in the street in bigger numbers than we ever known before,” said Waksmunski. “It's a terrifying time on one hand, but it's an exciting time because working people, working class, is rising up.”
