Buses from nine cities will take part in the Freedom Ride. They will converge on Washington, D.C., October 1-2 before heading to New York for a rally October 4. The official web site explains that “immigrant workers, living and paying taxes in the United States, deserve the rights to legalize their status, to have a clear road to citizenship…and to enjoy full protection of their civil rights and civil liberties.”

Suzanne Murphy, the full-time coordinator for the local effort, told the 75 people at the St. Paul event that meat packers from Worthington, members of the Rochester Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees who are originally from Somalia, and farm workers from Owatonna all plan to be on the buses. Other riders will include a group of activists from ISAIAH, a religious coalition that fights for immigrant rights; an immigrant from Kenya who is active in an organizing drive by the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) at a Twin Cities nursing home; and a young Hmong woman from the Jane Adams School for Democracy.

Pat McCann, a Postal Workers delegate to the St. Paul Trades and Labor Council, said he began to see the importance of the fight for immigrant workers’ rights during a union struggle at Dakota Premium Foods in South St. Paul three years ago. “Most of the workers there are immigrants,” he said. “Even though they won a union contract, the boss thinks he can continue to abuse them.”

Delegations from McCann’s union local have traveled to Jefferson, Wisconsin to support striking members of the United Food and Commercial Workers at Tyson Foods who walked out seven months ago. The Freedom Ride buses will stop at Jefferson and riders will walk the picket line.

Clerical workers who are members of AFSCME at the University of Minnesota staffed a table at the September 13 meeting, dispensing information about their fight against the university administration’s proposals to cut health-care payments. Many participants wore “I support U of M Workers” buttons. A local group of Aztec Dancers performed traditional dances.

The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride buses will be sent off with a rally on September 25 at Powderhorn Park in South Minneapolis. The event will begin at 5:00 p.m.  
 
 
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