Thank you to everyone who helped make our May Day events such a rousing success! By joining together at the April 29th event at The Evergreen State College, May 1st event at the Capitol Theater and the All Labor Rally on May 3rd we have shown our community that organized labor is strong in Thurston County. The Thurston Lewis Mason Central Labor Council is proud to use our privilege as the oldest worker right’s organization in the area to bring needed attention to our immigrant siblings and the unique struggles that their community faces in these dire times where the federal government has illegally given power to ICE to harass, imprison and deport our union siblings.
On April 29th we partnered with Community to Community (C2C) and Familias Unidas por la Justicia to sponsor the Jose Gomez Farmworker Justice Day at The Evergreen State College.
On May 1st we worked with the Capitol Theater in downtown Olympia to show the previously banned and blacklisted film ‘Salt of the Earth’ and hosted a panel of speakers. We would like to thank the incredible staff of the Olympia Film Society for being incredibly easy and professional to work with. We also give thanks to our panelists Dr Natasha Varner (Us@250 Fellow) and Peter Bohmer (Economics for Everyone) for giving valuable context to the history and making of the film. We were also so fortunate to have Jorge Torres (WFSE 1495) and Cecilia Pérez (Migrant Education Program) share their experience in the current state of immigration and labor justice in our communities. Also thank you to Geoff Bates for serving as our evenings MC.
Then on May 3rd we took over the Capitol Lawn, and then marched to Sylvester Park to the beat of the Artesian Rumble Arkestra with over 700 labor siblings! We shared information, enjoyed music from Good Time Traveling Madness, ate a great meal and listened to the following speakers share information about their organizations and the power of labor and economic justice.
Speakers included:
DJ–Tumwater Education Association
Milo-WFSE 443
Jimena-Community to Community
Justin and Sol -Firelands
Andre-Whole Washington
Kyrian and Julianna–Renton Education Association
Click here to see some photos from the march and rally!
We share thanks and gratitude to the Retired Public Employees Council, Olympia Indivisible, ATU 1765, Olympia DSA, Wobbly Cup Coffee Roasters, the Social Anarchist Library, Olympia IWW, Olympia Paraeducators Association who all tabled at the park to share information about their organizations. We
Finally a massive thank you goes to our planning committee! Ryan Scmautz (WFSE 443), Alice Rosewater (AFSCME 3758) and Reed Ingalls (ATU 1765) dedicated countless hours to coordinating this event. We are so fortunate to have delegates to our Labor Council that are committed to showing the strength of the workers in our community by organizing so many towards our common goals. Thank you again Alice, Reed and Ryan, your work has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.
The Thurston Lewis Mason Central Labor Council is proud to organize in Thurston County for May Day. Join us in Lewis County for our annual Labor Day event or the first Wednesday of every month for Solidarity Night at the ILWU 47 Hall at the Port of Olympia.
If you are interested in learning more about TLMCLC or participating in a future event, contact Rachelle Martin at President@TLMLabor.org.
