Immigrant rights group to hold press conference to announce May Day March in Chicago
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Chicago, IL – Despite the tide of anti-worker and anti-immigrant bills in Illinois and around the country, immigrant rights activists and supporting organizations are putting out the call to march on May Day in support of the rights of both documented and undocumented workers.
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“We march because the classic union anthem of ‘Solidarity Forever’ refers to every worker – documented and undocumented, waged and unwaged, in the US and around the world,†stated Robin Hewlett, an artist and organizer for May Day.
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What: Press Conference to invite Chicagoans to march on May 1st 2011Â
When: Thursday, April 21st at 11:30 AM
Where: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Building, 101 West Congress Parkway
Who: Members and Supporters of the Moratorium on Deportations Campaign (MDC)
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BACKGROUND:
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May Day is celebrated around the world as the international day of solidarity among working people. This global celebration recognizes the historic importance of worker struggles in Chicago, as a city in which immigrant workers in the 1800s led the fight for the 8-hour work-day.
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In 2006, Chicago’s immigrant communities marched in protest and defeated the harsh anti-immigrant Sensenbrenner Bill; it was this struggle for immigrant rights that breathed new life into Mayday and re-ignited the fight for the rights of all working people. This legacy continues in 2011 as a grassroots coalition calls for a Mayday march in Chicago from Union Park to Pilsen, a Latino neighborhood of great international significance in the history of the struggles for worker rights.
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Today the political and economic problems facing the nation are even more dramatic than in 2006. The attack on workers in Wisconsin, and the enormous nation-wide response of support, comes against the backdrop of copy-cat anti-worker bills around the Midwest. At the same time, deportations continue at historically high rates, and anti-immigrant legislation is being introduced around the country including proposed bill HB 1969 here in Illinois. As two sides of the same coin, these dual attacks highlight the importance of solidarity for workers regardless of their legal status.
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Mayday is the largest show of worker solidarity in the world, in which teachers, workers, immigrants and students in Chicago will join their counterparts around the world to march for a fair and equal Chicago.
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“We march because our communities are under attack†said Jose Herrera, a youth organizer of the march. “Politicians make false promises in order to mobilize the immigrant vote, while at the same time they enforce a system that oppresses and criminalizes immigrants. We march as a way to build political power and consciousness in our communities,†he concluded.
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“We march because we are in a moment of emerging global consciousness among working people†stated Carmela Garcia. “The failure of the neoliberal system is clear, and there is an emerging globalized movement to build a better and more just worldâ€.
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The demands of the march are as follows:
1. Stop all deportations NOW — we demand an immediate Moratorium on Deportations !
2. Legalization and full status without conditions for undocumented immigrants NOW !
3. An end to anti-immigrant legislation and the criminalization of immigrants
4. Labor rights, employment, and a living wage for all workers
5. Funding for health care, jobs and education, not for war and deportation!
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The itinerary for May Day Event is as follows:
4:00PM March Ends and Rally Starts at Plaza Tenochtitlan, (Corners of 18th St/Blue Island/S. Loomis)
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Endorsing organizations include:
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Moratorium on Deportations, 3d Graphics Inc, 8th Day Center for Justice, AFSCME Local 2081, Albany Park, North Park, Mayfair Neighbors for Peace and Justice, ANSWER Chicago, Biblioteca Popular, Centro Americano para la Cultura y las Artes, Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign, Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism (CCAWR), Chicago Jobs with Justice, Committee Against the Militarization of our Youth (CAMi), Gay Liberation Network, Iglesia Metodista Amor de Dios, Immigrant Solidarity Dupage, International Socialist Organization, Justice Mission, La Villita-Chicago Facebook Community, Labor Committee on Immigrant Worker Rights, M19 Anti War Coalition, Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano, Radios Populares, Red Migrante, Socialist Worker Party, Teachers for Social Justice-Chicago, Teamsters Local 743, The Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, The Coalition of Utah Progressives (CUP)
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For more information, or to set up an interview, please contact:
Jose Herrera at 773-632-9992 or Carmela Garcia 847-809-0611
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From:Â Moratorium on Deportations
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Contact:Jose Herrera (773) 632 9992Â Â Â josefromchicago@aol.com,Â
Rozalinda Borcila  (813)789-0123  rborcila@yahoo.com
Rozalinda Borcila  (813)789-0123  rborcila@yahoo.com
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To be presented at the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance City Council Hearing on April 21st 2011 10:00AM
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Statement from the organizers of Chicago Mayday March 2011:  “Worker’s Struggle Beyond Bordersâ€
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Why we support the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance
As a coalition that brings together immigrant rights groups, anti-war organizations, neighborhood associations and rank and file workers, we understand that issues of environmental justice are intricately interwoven with issues of workplace justice and human rights. We support the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance because:
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1.  Chicago offers a dramatic example of how environmental devastation disproportionately affects immigrant communities and people of color. Our communities experience a warzone with every breath, the kind of war that builds battlefields in our neighborhoods and inside the bodies of our children. The city has the authority, and the obligation, to stop this deadly attack on its residents.
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2.  The air we breathe knows no borders. The toxic pollutants produced by the Fisk and Crawfold coal-fired plants (in Pilsen and Little Village respectively) affect people across the city and the region. We expect the city of Chicago to live up to its green image as more than an empty slogan.
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3.  We believe that support for the rights and health of workers, like those that work at the Fisk and Crawfold coal-fired plants, is entirely compatible with the health and well-being of the primarily immigrant communities that suffer the deadly affects of the two unregulated coal plants.
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 4. Working people are being forced to pay for economic and environmental crisis created by corporations that destabilize economies, devastate life-sustaining ecosystems, displace workers and pollute communities around the globe. Average working people cannot afford to bear these disproportionate costs while the top 1% profit.  Â
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Who we are:
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On May Day, as millions of people around the world celebrate workers’ rights, a coalition of grassroots immigrant rights activists, anti-war organizations, rank and file workers and community members are calling on Chicago to march! On Sunday, May 1st, we march in solidarity with all working people – documented and undocumented, waged and unwaged, in the US and around the world. Together we march for justice, fair wages, decent working conditions, basic dignity, healthy communities, and full legal status for all working people.
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For more information see:Â www.moratoriumondeportations.org
