Hundreds march in Eugene to support labor unions

EUGENE, Ore.— Hundreds of Eugene residents took to the streets to demonstrate on behalf of organized labor Friday evening.

Organizers from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) convened the rally to protest the recent passage of bills in Wisconsin that revoke the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
 
An estimated 600 protesters marched from the Hilton Convention Center to Free Speech Plaza amid chants of “The people united will never be defeated!” and “What’s disgusting? Union-busting!”
 
“Community members, not just union members, were shocked by what they were seeing in the media about the multinational corporations and the money they were putting in to try and bust unions,” said Rick Henson, rally organizer and a staff representative of AFSCME Council 75.
 
Billy Berger, an organizer with AFSCME Local 3214 fired up the crowd with the story of how he helped organize a union for employees of Albertina Kerr, a corporation that is the largest caretaker of the developmentally disabled in Oregon. He spoke about how workers were awarded every concession they asked for by the Federal mediator, intermittently leading the assembled crowd in chanting, “We work! We win!”
 
On the same day that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed the highest-profile anti-union bill into law, protesters in Eugene appeared galvanized and determined to uphold collective bargaining rights in Oregon.
 
“Everyone deserves a fair shake,” said State Rep. Phil Barnhart. “Everyone deserves a decent chance at a good job. Everyone deserves the kind of dignity that comes with work that is worth doing and that is valuable and useful for the community.”