100,000 expected at workers rally on Mall

The “working class” will bring its demands to the District Sunday when more than 100,000 people from across the country are expected to rally for several causes, including universal health care and an end to poverty and the war in Iraq.

The Million Worker March, a rally to support workers of the United States and abroad, is scheduled from noon to 3:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Memorial. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III, civil rights activist Dick Gregory and actor Danny Glover are expected to speak.

“Workers are under siege” said Ralph Schoenman, a spokesman for the march. “Social services aren’t safe, funding for schools, libraries, affordable housing and health care are cut and eliminated. Outsourcing and privatization are taking away thousands of jobs.”

Organizers said labor unions representing more than 3.5 million workers are backing the march. The event’s permit application to the National Park Service estimated a turnout of 100,000.

U.S. Park Police said yesterday no streets around the Mall will be closed to traffic.

“The numbers will be massive,” Mr. Schoenman said. “It is a broad rank-and-file labor movement. It’s endorsed by organizations such as the [National Education Association], which has 2.7 million members, and by the [American] Postal Workers Union, which has 350,000 members. It is going to be a huge, massive mobilization.”

The AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation in the country — representing more than 13 million workers — said it is not officially endorsing the march because it does not have the resources.

“We support many of the goals of the march, but we’re focusing our energy and resources on mobilizing union members to vote in the upcoming election,” said AFL-CIO spokeswoman Lane Windham.

“This is simply the most important election for workers” in recent times, she said.

The workers’ demands include universal health care, Social Security protections, repeal of anti-labor legislation and a national living wage that eradicates poverty.

“If the national poverty level for a family of four is $12,000 a year, that is just the cutoff point,” Mr. Schoenman said. “If you earn $12,000, you’re not considered poor, but it’s impossible for a person to live off $3,000 a year. The poverty numbers are at least three times as much as are reported.”

The workers also seek affordable housing, the ending of free-trade agreements and amnesty for undocumented workers.