[Sosfbay-discuss] In Oakland & SF On May Day, many marchers for many causes

[Drew Johnson]

SF march and Rally:
[McKinney refers to the 'Bush-Pelosi war'. ;-)  Love it.  Drew]

McKinney starts about 7:30 into video
Sheehan about 4:20 in
Conally, Glover, others

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BspANxukBgg


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/05/02/BA4K10F7K3.DTL
Friday, May 2, 2008 (SF Chronicle)
On May Day, many marchers for many causes
Tyche Hendricks, Carolyn Jones, Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writers


   (05-01) 17:42 PDT SAN FRANCISCO - -- The Bay Area celebrated May Day in
traditional fashion Thursday - with an array of protests around the
region: for an end to the war in Iraq, against education budget cuts and
in favor of legalization for undocumented immigrants.
   Dockworkers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union walked
off the job at ports up and down the West Coast, including Oakland and San
Francisco, calling for an end to the war. Union officials estimated the
number of workers at 25,000 while maritime officials placed the number
closer to 10,000.
   Anti-war protesters, joining dockworkers and other labor leaders, marched
down the Embarcadero from Fisherman's Wharf to Justin Herman Plaza, where
a rally drew several hundred protesters and onlookers.
   Students at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley and other college
campuses staged walkouts and teach-ins over the state's proposed cuts to
education spending.
   By late afternoon, the attention shifted toward immigrant rights - with
thousands of marchers taking to the streets in San Francisco and Oakland.
   Protesters said they want laws making it easier to work, obtain driver's
licenses and keep families united, without constant fear of deportation.
   This year's marches - in major cities across the United States - did not
rival the huge immigrant rights marches during the spring of 2006, in
which several million protesters took to the streets across the country.
   But immigrant rights advocates are continuing the drumbeat, urging
Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul that would provide a
path to legal status, and ultimately citizenship, for the estimated 12
million undocumented immigrants living and working in the United States.
   Groups that favor more restrictive immigration policies denounced
Thursday's marches.
   "The U.S. should use Mexico's legal immigration policy as a model, which
would bar burdensome immigrants and would not allow the chain migration of
extended families, so that we can first improve life for those who are
already here legally, U.S. and foreign-born," said Yeh Ling Ling, director
of the Oakland-based Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America.
   The day of protests began at about dawn at the Port of Oakland, where
dozens of anti-war protesters rallied outside the port's rail terminal.
They waved signs and urged truckers and other port workers to join the
longshore workers in staying off the job, but not try to block their
access.
   "We're here to support the longshore union workers," said Toby Blome of
El
Cerrito who was carrying a large peace symbol fashioned from a hula hoop
and covered in artificial flowers. "This is a very courageous effort
they're doing."
   Operations in Oakland and other West Coast ports ground to a halt
Thursday
after ILWU workers stayed off the job, said Steve Getzug, spokesman for
the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents companies that move
cargo through the ports.
   "There is no activity," he said. "The ILWU struck West Coast ports and
brought cargo operations to a virtual standstill."
   In San Francisco, marchers were urged on by a spirited brass band and led
by the ILWU drill team, wearing taps on their shoes and carrying grappling
hooks in their hands. At Justin Herman Plaza, Clarence Thomas, an ILWU
spokesman, praised the protesters for walking off the job and called on
others to join them.
   "Could you imagine if this were being duplicated in more places in all
the
major sectors of the economy?" he said. "It would send a message that we
want this war to end. It's killing our children and diverting resources
from domestic needs."
   At San Francisco State University, hundreds of students walked out of
classes at noon to protest fee hikes - then ended up blocking traffic on
busy 19th Avenue in front of the campus for about half an hour, said
campus spokeswoman Ellen Griffin.
   The march from Dolores Park to the Civic Center drew an energetic and
youthful crowd of hundreds of people, who walked to chanting and drumming.
Two dozen teenagers led the march, carrying a banner that depicted flags
of all the nations of the Americas - from Canada to Chile. Marchers were
accompanied by a mixture of bouncy Mexican corridos and sing-song chants
in English, including "We are people, we are not illegal."
   Across the bay, hundreds of immigrants and supporters flooded the
Fruitvale BART station for a march to Oakland City Hall for a rally. The
rally featured Aztec dancers, singers and speeches demanding better rights
for immigrants.
   "All we want to do is work and put food on the table," said Jamilent
Canaca, a mother of two from Hayward who works in construction, through a
translator. "But it's very difficult to find employment and support your
family. We still have to struggle, like we're still in a Third World
country."

   IN BUSINESS
   -- Dockworkers on the West Coast brought port operations to a halt for
eight hours in a war protest on May Day. C1

   Chronicle Staff Writer Michael Cabanatuan contributed to this report.
E-mail the writers at thendricks at sfchronicle.com,
carolynjones at sfchronicle.com and
cburress at sfchronicle.com
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Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle