Los Angeles (USA), .- The streets of Los Angeles (California) became this Wednesday, which marks the International Labor Day, a platform for demands for an improvement in working conditions and a deal Equal and respectful for immigrant workers in the US.
Some 5,000 people have gathered at MacArthur Park to start the so-called “Power of the People of Los Angeles”, a march organized by some 77 local organizations, one of the many planned for today and that began with the theme “The Son de la negra “, performed by the mariachi group Las Divas.
“It is very important to remind the Government that we are the ones who move this great country, without us this country is nothing,” defended Efe Silvia Rivera, a Mexican of the local affiliate 721 of the International Trade Union of Service Workers (SEIU). .
“We do not do the ugly thing to the work, on the contrary, whatever we come up we want, so the government has to realize that we are here to make this great country grow,” he said.
Rivera, along with a group of compañeras working in fast food restaurants, participated in the coordinated march also by advocacy groups in favor of undocumented immigrants and that began this afternoon at the Douglas MacArthur Park, a usual meeting point for the immigrant community. .
From there he began a journey to “Grand Park” amid claims for the rights of workers and immigrants, the main work base in sectors such as construction, hospitality and agriculture.
“We are the working force”, “Stop the intimidation” and “Migrant power” were some of the proclamations written on banners.
Rigoberto Valdez, vice president of the Local 770 branch of the Trade Union of Workers of the Food and Commerce Industry (UFCW), told Efe that “it seems ridiculous that in this country, which has a very strong economy at the moment, it is not Give respect to the migrant worker. “
“Most immigrants are workers, they are people who participate in the economy of this country, pay taxes and participate to take this country forward,” he added, and then demand that all forms of persecution against immigrants be stopped. “
“As workers we need to earn a decent salary, have respect in our work, have benefits such as health care, retirement, these types of benefits are things that not all workers have,” said the UFCW unionist.
Tessie Borden, spokesperson for the Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants in Los Angeles (CHIRLA), told Efe that “when we talk about workers and we talk about immigrants, we essentially talk about the same people.”
“Then we are saying that these people have value, that they have made an undoubted contribution in this country,” he added.
The spokeswoman for CHIRLA stressed that because of the “fear” that policies provoke against undocumented “industries that depend on immigrants” are affected by not being able to find workers, as often happens in agricultural production haciendas.
Borden said the march serves to celebrate “recent victories” achieved in Los Angeles, as the best conditions for teachers and the local education system, after the strike last January, as well as the permission granted to street vendors to sell on the streets.
On Wednesday, the city hosted several events on the occasion of International Labor Day, including the so-called “The struggle of workers has no border,” convened by La Union del Bario, also in MacArthur Park, in front of the statue of St. Oscar Romero
In turn, the march “May day in Boyle Heights” began with a protest in front of the Hollenbeck station of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and ended with a rally to demand “Legalization for all” in the Plaza del Mariachi. (EFE)
