A joint labor-immigrant march and rally is in the works for May Day in Chicago meant to support local unions and protest job cuts.
Occupy Chicago will join members of labor, faith, student and community movements for a demonstration "in the tradition of both the mass immigrant rights marches of 2006 and the long standing celebration of May Day," Occupy organizers said Wednesday in a statement.
The May 1 protest is scheduled to begin at noon at Union Park, followed by a march downtown and a 3 p.m. rally. United Steel Workers, Chicago Jobs with Justice, Chicago Teachers Union, Illinois Labor History Society and Occupy Chicago will present particulars Wednesday at the Haymarket Monument.
They said the march will mark "a historic coming together of Chicago’s working class in the face of the austerity measures imposed by Mayor Emanuel" as communities struggle with cuts to jobs and benefits, as well as health care and education cuts.
Occupy Chicago kicked off its "Chicago Spring" demonstration last week with a series of protests culminating in Grant Park.
Before then the group's last large-scale rally was in November, when a crowd of several hundred people snaked through the Loop during the evening rush hour.
