Adding to the stew of protests planned during the Republican National Convention, New York labor leaders announced yesterday that they would hold a rally on Sept. 1 at which tens of thousands of union members would demonstrate against President Bush.þþLabor leaders said the rally would be held near Madison Square Garden, the site of the convention scheduled from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, to send a strong message to Republicans about what the labor officials said were Mr. Bush's antiworker and antiunion policies.þþÿGeorge Bush is the working person's worst nightmare,'' said Brian M. McLaughlin, the president of the New York City Central Labor Council. ÿHe has attempted to roll back labor laws and workers' rights as far as he can.ÿþþMr. McLaughlin, who is also a Democratic state assemblyman from Queens, said labor unions had originally planned to hold several marches from various union headquarters that would feed into the rally. But he said that because of security concerns and the huge pressures the city and its Police Department would face at the convention, labor leaders decided to forgo the marches and just hold the rally. þþThe rally, which has received a permit from the city, is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. at 30th Street and Eighth Avenue. Demonstrators will be asked to enter a planned security zone at 23rd Street. Mr. McLaughlin announced the rally at a news conference outside the Garden, where he was joined by leaders of more than a dozen unions, including 1199/SEIU, District Council 37, the United Federation of Teachers, the United Automobile Workers, the Transport Workers Union and Unite Here, the textile, hotel and restaurant workers union.þþAt the news conference, the leaders said Mr. Bush had stripped many workers of overtime coverage, weakened the rights of workers to form unions, done little to stop jobs from moving overseas and done nothing to hold down health care costs.þþÿWe believe that George Bush has been a disaster for our country, a disaster for health care and a disaster for working people,'' said Dennis Rivera, president of 1199/S.E.I.U., New York's largest health care union, which represents 260,000 workers.þþLeonard Alcivar, a spokesman for the Republican National Convention, said the convention would help labor by creating jobs and improving the city's economy. ÿWe look forward to a convention that looks to the president's successes over the past four years and to his vision for the next four years,'' he said.þþMr. Bush's aides say he has helped workers by reducing their taxes and by taking many steps to stimulate the economy.þþMr. McLaughlin said that on the evening of Sept. 2, when Mr. Bush is expected to deliver his speech accepting the Republican Party's nomination, many New York union members would participate in a plan to have an estimated 25,000 union members across the nation knock on a million doors to spread an anti-Bush message.þþTwo unions that are in a bitter contract dispute with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg - the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and the Uniformed Firefighters Association - will not participate in the rally, officials with both unions said. Neither union has endorsed a presidential candidate, and officials from the two unions said they wanted to focus their energies on protesting Mr. Bloomberg and not Mr. Bush.þþOfficials from the police and firefighters' unions said they would hold some informational picketing during the convention.þþÿWe will make our presence known at certain delegate events to make sure they know that the Republican mayor has refused to negotiate honorably and fairly with the police and firefighters of New York,'' said Tom Butler, a spokesman for the firefighters' union.þþþþ
Source: NY Times
