Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | N | NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs

THE ISTHMUS REACTS, SUPPORTING US DEMONSTRATIONS FOR HUMANE MIGRANT REFORMS.

Article Excerpt
For much of the world, May Day, May 1, is International Labor Day, but it is generally ignored by a US citizenry unmindful that it is a tradition born in Chicago in commemoration of the Haymarket Riots of 1886. May 1, 2006, however, saw a significant change in the pattern as many thousands of immigrant workers brought the celebration back home to protest a bill in the US House of Representatives that seeks to criminalize the efforts of Latin Americans and others crossing the US border without documentation.

The workers, most from Mexico (see SourceMex, 2006-05-03) and Central America, demonstrated in the largest US cities with the intention of showing not only the strength of their numbers but also the importance of their contribution to the US economy. Their absence from farms and fields, kitchens and construction sites, packinghouses and the front yards of the affluent was felt nationwide, with some businesses shutting down for lack of labor. For a day, roofs went unpatched, lettuce unpicked, chickens unplucked, dishes unwashed. The workers were in the streets demanding that they, like the generations of workers who came before them, be respected for their labor and their aspirations for a better life.

The workers' efforts drew support in their countries of origin, where people turned out in the streets to protest the meanspiritedness of the northern colossus that requires the work, but withholds respect from those who risk life and limb to work there and send home money to support their families. Protests in Central America focused on this issue, but also included other frustrations, like the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that threatens their livelihoods.

In preparation for protests, thousands in Guatemala received emails during the preceding weeks asking them to boycott US products and businesses. Union and campesino organizations...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!