Workers Memorial Day in New Brunswick, New Jersey
The event was attended by a local coalition of labor leaders such as the NJ Work Environment Council, rank and file sanitation workers, United Steelworkers District 4, Rutgers University Union Coalition, Laundry Workers Center, Make the Road NJ, and North and Central NJ Democratic Socialists of America, and others, who came together to discuss mistreatment and unfair working conditions on the job, offering testimonials and statistics on injuries and deaths that have occurred in New Jersey and country wide. New Labor’s demands for a Temp Workers Bill of Rights and universal protection from retaliation against reporting workplace safety issues were well received by the attendees and a call to action to inform local and state level legislators of these was made. The opening speeches were followed by a march through the streets of downtown New Brunswick, where chants such as “¡Ni una muerta más!” and “¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” could be heard from blocks away. Marchers also handed out informational pamphlets to passersby and residents in the neighborhood.