#file_1# More than 200 people attended the September 7 rally for the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride at Saint Matthews Church in northeast Baltimore. Inspired by the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement, immigrant workers and their supporters will travel from ten major cities--Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle--to converge on Washington DC on October 1 and 2 to rally and meet with members of US Congress.

The Kenyan Community Choir opened the evening with traditional songs and dance. With the men wearing cloth skirts in red, white and black stripes and the women in red, white, and blue-green 'grass' skirts, the fifteen members sang about work and the struggle for freedom.

Roxie Herbekian, Secretary-Treasurer of HERE Local 7 (Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees), gave an overview of the situation of immigrant workers and the goals of the Freedom Ride. Herbekian noted that there are more immigrants now than at any other period in US history. Immigrants are working all across the US, not just the large coastal cities, but in Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington. However, immigration law has not kept pace with this development, she said. Although an immigrant may arrive legally, existing legal processes can take years to resolve. And many face the threat of deportation. "That's wrong," Herbekian emphasized. The civil rights, immigrant, and labor movements must "stand for civil rights for all, the right for citizenship, and decency in the workplace," she said.

Serafin Eusebio Vazquez, a member of Asociación de Trabajadores/CASA of Maryland, spoke in Spanish of his experiences. Vazquez, who is married with two children, came to the US from Mexico to improve his situation, but he found himself in a highly exploitative workplace. For ten months he worked for a cleaning company. He worked seven days a week on an 8pm to 11am shift at a very low wage. His wages were $900-950 bi-weekly. Vazquez went to CASA de Maryland who helped him with legal matters. Now he works at a better wage in a trucking warehouse, Vazquez told Indymedia after the event.

Susana Castillo, a UNITE! (Union of Needletrades & Industrial Textile Employees) shop steward at Up-To-Date Laundry, spoke of the working conditions at the laundry before UNITE! won a 60-day strike in 2001. Up-To-Date's workforce is mixed African-American and Latino, but predominantly Latino with many immigrants. Speaking in Spanish, Castillo described working in temperatures of 110 degrees. Castillo, who is from El Salvador, also spoke of the fears many immigrant workers have because of legal uncertainties. But because of this she "encouraged all immigrant workers to join the Freedom Ride." Castillo also encouraged workers from the Mayflower Laundry to work with UNITE! to achieve a unionized workplace, as dozens of UNITE! members in the audience chanted "Si Se Puede!", the words of farm worker organizer Cesar Chavez which translate as "Yes, We Can!"

Later, we asked Susana Castillo if she thought it worth the risk for the Mayflower workers to challenge their management. "Yes!," she said, while noting the gains of the Up-To-Date workers--increased wages, health insurance, union representation, and respect. (UNITE! has initiated a card-check recognition drive at the west Baltimore Mayflower plant.)

Surveying the crowd, one could see 40 to 50 bright red t-shirts of UNITE! And maybe a dozen medium blue t-shirts of HERE with "Organize for Our Future" in yellow lettering on the back. There was also a strong contingent of UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers) members wearing less colorful polo shirts with their union's insignia stitched on. These were the unions with the strongest presence, and not all members were in union t-shirts. But as Fred Mason, president of the Maryland-DC AFL-CIO, noted, there were members from the Bricklayers Union, the Communication Workers of America, United Auto Workers, United Steel Workers, and others.

In his remarks, Fred Mason said the labor movement takes justice for immigrant workers seriously and encouraged all to support the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. Mason spoke of his experiences as an African-American growing up during segregation. When he was 17 years old, he left his home town and travelled to Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, settling finally in Baltimore. Referring to a woman from Honduras who spoke earlier of the pain of separation from her family while seeking better employment in the US, Mason said "While I don't know the particular pain of brothers and sisters from Honduras... I know it hurts." The right to work and to be with family is so important, Mason said, ending with "I'm so glad so many are here today."

Gustavo Torres, director of CASA de Maryland, picked up on a thread Mason alluded to--the legacy of colonialism. More than 200,000 have been killed in wars in Central America in which the US government has been involved. These wars have destroyed communities, and since then, many Latinos have come to the US to build communities, "right here in Maryland, in DC." (According to the 2000 Census, there are 11,061 Latinos living in Baltimore, though many observers active with the community estimate 20,000). Torres said "We need to come together, looking at how Martin Luther King 40 years ago united the African-American community." As he ended his remarks, chants of "Si Se Puede" reverberated throughout the church.

Finally, Father Joseph Muth, of Saint Matthews Church, spoke. The inside of the church expressed an international sensibility as its columns were host to about 40 colorful flags of various nations. Muth, who spends much of his time working on immigrant issues, talked of the immigrant base of the US, of the essential work immigrants do which enable others to go about their daily lives. Muth spoke of the power and spirit of immigrants, asking "Is the Immigrant Freedom Ride a risk? Yes! Is the Immigrant Freedom Ride an opportunity? Yes!"

The rally ended with performance by Saint Veronica's Youth Steel Band who started their set with Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" from the album "Songs in the Key of Life." The lyrics of the last stanza are well worth noting:

Let's start living our lives
Living for the future paradise
Praise to our lives
Living for the future paradise
Shame to anyone's lives
Living in the pastime paradise.

Immigrant Freedom Riders from Minneapolis will arrive in Baltimore on September 30th. According to Roxie Herbekian, Immigrant Freedom Riders will visit more than 100 cities and towns across the US. A final rally will be held in New York City on October 4th. The demands of the Freedom Ride are: legalization and a road to citizenship for immigrant workers; the right to reunite families; the right to organize in the workplace; protection of the civil rights and civil liberties of all.

Information on the specific routes across the United States can be found at www.iwfr.org/

See also the Indymedia article on the October 1 rally at University of Maryland:
baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/5110/index.php