Good Article about HKonJ in YES! Weekly

Marching for economic and social justice

Last weekend was the 5th annual Historic Thousands on Jones St., where about a thousand demonstrators - including representatives from the NC State AFL-CIO and our affiliates - marched on the General Assembly and rallied outside the legislative building.

NC State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer MaryBe McMillan was one of the featured speakers at the rally.

Triad independent newspaper, YES! Weekly did a good right up on the event, Hundreds march on Jones Street for economic and social justice, which included several quotes from MaryBe:

"All of us who are out here in the real world, we know that what people need the most right now are jobs, and I'm not talking about a job at Wal-Mart or McDonald's," McMillan said. "What people need are good jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and provide benefits."

McMillan also called on state legislators to pass laws that respect workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively.

"We need to make our voices heard in proportion to our numbers and not just today but every day," McMillan said. "We are the backbone of the economy and when you take away our buying power, like these job losses and low wages have done, the whole economy suffers."

McMillan urged those in attendance to make their voices heard to their elected officials.

"Let's make a promise right here and now that we will not back down, we will not retreat and we will not be silent until workers everywhere have good jobs and have the right to organize and bargain collectively," she said.

Click here to read more of YES! Weekly's coverage of HKonJ.By the way, we took lots of pictures of the march, the rally, and the speakers on stage. Check our website next week to see them.