UFCW Local 5, ILWU Local 10 Interviews from SF Mayday march 2001

We had about 1,000 people in this May Day Labor March. There are 7 million people living in the 9 counties of the Bay Area. Where were the millions of union members whose unions endorsed this march? These endorsements are an insult of they do not come with a commitment to bring their members to the march. That means chartering buses and making BART free, paid for by the labor unions, for the day. We are in the Great Depression of the 21st Century which is getting worse daily. What are you waiting for, conditions like in Brazil where 75% of the heads of households have 4 years or less of education? We already have 25% of Americans unable to identify information in text. In other words, they cannot read. 32 million Americans are functionally illiterate meaning they cannot read the newspaper, read labels or write a simple letter. Less than 50% of American adults can name the 3 branches of government: legislative, executive, judicial. Their little darlings, at age 13 (8th grade), cannot identify the purpose of the Bill of Rights, name a power that Congress has or define the term, melting pot. Yet, the unions are awash in money with high salaries paid to the labor lieutenants of capitalism, the officials. We can get 1,000 people out in San Francisco for just about anything. Hopefully, we will do better next time.

Oscar Avellan took the photos.