The cut in social programs that the recent changes in the economy have brought was the theme of a Jobs with Justice rally Saturday at Faneuil Hall.
Speakers at the rally expressed anger about the recent cuts in healthcare, education, social services, welfare and retirement. The rally was the first of three rallies organized by Jobs with Justice to recognize issues both local and international.
Recent budget cuts made by the federal government to make room for military spending have caused layoffs at Polaroid and other local companies, according to a Jobs with Justice flier. Though the everyday worker feels the impact of such reductions, “CEO’s are getting big bonuses, companies are getting hefty tax breaks, and Congress is talking about giving another huge tax break to the rich,” the flier reads.
Political figures such as gubernatorial candidate Shannon O’Brien and Rep. William Dellahunt (D-Mass.) also spoke out against economic injustices.
“In a time when we have so many wars — a war on cancer, a war on terrorism — its time for a war on economic injustice,” Dellahunt said.
Karl Farmer of the Polaroid Retirees Association related the economic downturn to the recent layoffs at Polaroid in Cambridge. He said the recent bankruptcy of Polaroid hurt the company’s workers, not the CEOs.
Farmer was joined by Lucent Technology worker Gary Nilsson, wearing a bright red T-shirt saying, “Keep jobs in the valley,” who spoke out against Lucent’s recent layoff of 800 workers when the Merrimack Valley facility shut down. Nilsson said labor cuts there did not extend to management.
“We must demand the heavy worker have the opportunity for decent family wage jobs and to hold those accountable that deny that right,” he said.
Kayem Foods worker Jose Hernandez spoke about efforts to create a union against the meatpacking plant. Hernandez said the plant tried to make the workers labor more than 8 hours a day and did not compensate for injuries received while on the job.
“We hope that the judge that day gives us justice as workers and gives us better benefits as workers,” Hernandez said about his hearing tomorrow to try to create a union.
Fellow protester Gail Enman, executive director of Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation, said she finds the dramatic cutbacks to her program appalling in a time when substance abuse and homelessness are on the rise.
“When the dust settles, CASPAR loses $250-300,000. And I hear next year’s budget will be even worse,” she said.
Jean McGuire, executive director for the Metropolitan Council for Education, called for people to “look behind the words of President Bush’s State of the Union Address.
“Why spend millions on an elusive war when the basic needs of our citizens are not being met?” McGuire asked.
McGuire also addressed the recent hot topic in Washington of campaign finance reform. She said campaign finance reform must be taken seriously before Americans will have leaders who respect the everyday worker. As long as political figures receive campaign donations from large corporations, political decisions will remain independent of the working man’s quality of life, she said.
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