Pro-Labor Rally Draws Tens Of Thousands

By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer
Philly.com
August 11, 2012

They came in buses to Philadelphia, proudly wearing the
t-shirts of their unions.

By mid-day Saturday, organizers of a national AFL-CIO
rally claimed more than 35,000 attended, exceeding
expectations. Police did not provide crowd estimates.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie
Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman took to the
podium in the minutes following Mitt Romney's selection
of Paul Ryan as his vice president.

When she mentioned Ryan, the crowd booed loudly. When
they finished, she said, "I couldn't agree more. What a
devastating impact a Romney-Ryan ticket would have on
working families.

She added, "A child needs an education more than a
million needs a tax break," she said to cheers from the
crowd.

Story at:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20120811_They_came_in_buses__proudly_wearing_the_t-shirts_of_their_unions.html
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Rally Video: http://www.workersstandforamerica.com/
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Text:

http://www.workersstandforamerica.com/rights.htm

AMERICA'S SECOND BILL OF RIGHTS

We the People want to strengthen our nation, as a beacon
of equality, economic opportunity and freedom for all.
We hold these rights to be essential to our vision of
America and believe that the principles contained
therein should guide our government, business leaders,
organizations and individuals in our common goal of a
just and fair society. The Right to Full Employment and
a Living Wage:

All Americans willing and able to work have the right to
safe, gainful employment at a fair and livable wage. We
call on the public and private sectors to invest in
America's infrastructure and promote industrial
development, maintaining job creation as a top policy
priority. The Right to Full Participation in the
Electoral Process:

Recent initiatives to disenfranchise citizens seek to
reduce the rolls of eligible voters and empower money
instead of people. We believe these actions constitute
an assault on our nation's democracy and history of
heroic struggle against voting restrictions based upon
property ownership, religion, race and gender and call
for reinforcing our fundamental right to vote. The Right
to a Voice at Work:

All workers have the right of freedom of association in
the workplace, including the right to collectively
bargain with their employer to improve wages, benefits
and working conditions. The Right to a Quality
Education:

Education is a fundamental bedrock of our democracy,
vital to America's competitive position in the world and
the principal means by which citizens empower themselves
to participate in our nation's economic and political
systems. Quality, affordable education should be
universally available from pre-kindergarten to college
level, including an expanded use of apprenticeships and
specialty skills training to prepare Americans for the
workplace. The Right to a Secure, Healthy Future:

Americans have the right to a baseline level of health
care, unemployment insurance and retirement security,
all of which have been badly eroded by the disruption of
the social compact that served the nation well for
decades. We call on government and private industry
together to confront the issues of declining access to
health care especially for children, weakening of
unemployment coverage, and inadequate pension plans that
undermine the ability of working men and women to retire
in dignity, even as Social Security and Medicare are
under strain and threatened with cutbacks.

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