Wilmington Says No to Minuteman Invasion

by Leslie Radford Tuesday, Sep. 05, 2006 at 1:18 PM
leslie@radiojustice.net

A handful of minutemen attempted to invade and disrupt the annual Union Labor Day picnic but are led out by union workers and police.

Wilmington Says No t...
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WILMINGTON, CA, 4 September 2006--Apparently without respect for unions or workers, a handful of minutemen attempted to invade and disrupt the annual Union Labor Day picnic and festival at Banning Park today. At about 12:15, about a dozen minutemen with signs managed to get about a hundred feet into the park before they were confronted by a couple of hundred union members. Coincidentally, as they approached, the SEIU speaker was talking about the "most vulnerable" workers, those who work for less than minimum wage without union protection. As the words "cazamigrantes" and "minutemen" spread through the park and the crowd grew, the police and union workers intervened to move the minutemen out of the park. By 12:30, the minutemen had re-assembled across the street and protested unnoticed for the rest of the celebration.

The family fiesta, with classic cars and classic rock, speakers, and booths for IWW, UTLA, CNA, SEIU, Teamsters, and today's heros, the EAA, continued without incident. They were joined by numerous organizations supporting the workers' struggle, including Radical Women, ANSWER-LA, the International Socialist Organization, and the Peace and Freedom Party.