Cincinnati March for Public Workers, Unions Honors King's Legacy

CWAers were among hundreds of union members at a candlelight march and vigil in Cincinnati to protest Ohio Gov. John Kasich's attacks on public workers and collective bargaining rights. The event was part of the AFL-CIO's annual Martin Luther King Day observance and conference. Photo by Andrew Richards/AFL-CIO.

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy of peaceful protest, CWA members were among hundreds of union activists who carried candles and marched to Cincinnati's City Hall last week to support public workers and the rights of all workers to bargain collectively.

The Jan. 14 vigil was part of the AFL-CIO's MLK Day observance, a three-day conference held annually over the holiday weekend, this year in Cincinnati. The Friday night event addressed recent attacks by Ohio Gov. John Kasich on public workers and unions, as well as proposed budget cuts by the Cincinnati City Council.

One of the most aggressive of the anti-union governors elected last November, Kasich wants to strip union rights from 14,000 child and home care workers, take away teachers' right to strike and kill rules requiring the contractors on public projects pay union-scale wages.

"I struggle every day to get by in this tough economy, just like every other Ohio working person, and do the best I can for my family and for the families who depend on me to care for their children while they are working," said Ella Hopkins, one of the low-paid child care providers Kasich is targeting. "Why does Governor Kasich want to make it harder for all of us to support our families and do the right thing for the parents and children we serve?"

The march also served to remind people that King stood not only for civil rights, but for the dignity of work and justice for all working people. His 1968 murder occurred while he was in Memphis to lend his powerful voice to 1,300 public sanitation workers who had been on strike for two months.