NEW YORK CITY,  May 7 — More than 1,000 low wage workers and their supporters jammed into Riverside Church tonight, in a “Service for Low Wage Workers.” The service was billed as “We Are All Workers!” The very integrated and international crowd of women and men were in high spirits, feeling their unity and ready for a fight. The speakers included fast food, airport, retail and car wash workers. Challenge was sold.
The rally was mainly organized by SEIU, United NY, and the various unions involved in the different organizing drives. The idea was to rally 25 clergy from around the city to give “moral authority” to the campaign to raise the minimum wage. The low wage workers who spoke were given two-minutes each, and if they went over, someone was there to tap them on the back. The clergy, on the other hand, preachers, rabbis, priests and imams, couldn’t shut up when given a microphone and a big crowd. Throw in the head of the NY Central Labor Council and the Speaker of the NY City Council and workers were eager to get out of there and on the buses taking them home.
The class struggle may be heating up a bit, and the unions and Democratic Party are looking to increase their numbers by targeting low-wage workers. In the process of organizing them, they are leading workers away from communist revolution and into the arms of the imperialist war-makers and their religious lackeys. We have to do better at fighting for the political leadership of these workers. The union leaders want to win mostly black, Latino, Asian and women workers to settle for a wage that might put them just above the poverty line. PLP wants to abolish wage slavery with communist revolution.