http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/3821861.html

Today is Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Originally published Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Updated Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Union members skirmish with protesters at rally
Police shield anti-immigration group at the Banning Park event. Otherwise, Labor Day is a time of solidarity.
By Donna Littlejohn
DAILY BREEZE

There was the usual fare of hot dogs and impassioned speeches Monday at the annual Labor Day march and rally that has become a settled tradition in Wilmington.

But there also was some unscripted political drama this year. A group of anti-illegal immigrant advocates holding signs and American flags was chased from Banning Park by throngs of labor union members shouting "Racists Go Home!"

No one was hurt in the brief, mostly verbal skirmish that drew a quick response by police officers who safely escorted the 12 demonstrators out of the park.

The Labor Day celebration opened with a morning solidarity march through Wilmington followed by picnics and speeches at Banning Park. An estimated crowd of about 4,000 surged into the park initially, but quickly began to dwindle with the afternoon's rising heat.

Most huddled under trees or found other forms of shade, drinking water and sodas.

The event was organized by the Teamsters, International Longshore and Warehouse Union and other unions along with the National Alliance for Immigrants' Rights to call for a moratorium on deportations and amnesty for illegal aliens.

The day went pretty much as planned until about 12 people affiliated with the Minute Men and other anti-illegal immigrant causes began walking to the top of a grassy mound next to the Banning Residence Museum inside the park.

Carrying signs and American flags in a quiet protest, they were soon engulfed by a surging crowd that pushed and chanted as they closed in on the group.

Police quickly intervened, surrounding the protesters and escorting them out of the park as the crowd followed behind, continuing to chant. No one was injured and police set up a space for the protesters across the street with horse-mounted officers stationed in between the two crowds.

"Our rights to demonstrate were trampled on," demonstrator Newt Young of Torrance said of the experience. "They're not friendly."

From the stage inside the park, labor union officials urged the crowd to push for workers' rights.

"Get ready to rumble!" shouted Ray Ortiz of ILWU Local 13. "Today's a beautiful day to see all these people marching (against) the war on labor."


Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who spent the day elsewhere attending a celebration for the city's 225th birthday, was denounced from the stage by one speaker as a "scab." A former union organizer, the mayor crossed a picket line last month -- the first time in his life, he said -- when some 7,500 members of the Engineers and Architects Association staged a two-day strike.

"Anyone who really holds (labor) principles in their heart doesn't cross a picket line," said Bob Aquino of the Engineers and Architects Association. "Anyone who does cross a legal picket line is a scab and they'll remain that for the rest of their lives."

For city firefighter Paul Gilbrook, Labor Day meant laboring -- over a hot grill sizzling with hot dogs.

"This is a day of solidarity for the working class," said Gilbrook, first vice president of Los Angeles City Firefighters Local 112. "It's also for getting united against (President) Bush and (Gov.) Schwarzenegger and anyone who wants to take salaries and benefits away from workers."

With midterm elections just around the corner, politics was never far from view or earshot. Booths urged people to register to vote, sign petitions, support various propositions, join third parties and buy sloganed T-shirts.

"Do you want to sign a petition?" a woman asked several people who paused at her "One Care Now" booth. "It's for health care for everybody."

"Iraqi Workers Organize!" blared one large sign. "Equity!" said another.

"A war budget leaves EVERY child behind," read T-shirts being hawked by United Teachers Los Angeles.

Looking uncomfortable under the blazing sun, a tall man dressed in a full Batman costume -- complete with black tights, cape and hooded mask -- posed for pictures with children while passing out "Yes on Proposition 89" (Clean Money and Fair Elections) stickers.

At another booth, a couple of surplus Gray Davis signs found a new use in 2006. They had been flipped over and scrawled with "Register to Vote" messages.

Meanwhile, two men standing in the midst of the milling crowd leaned in toward each other as they privately debated the future of the Iraq war.

"So, you're saying it would be bad if we pulled out?" one of them asked the other.


Earlier, the ILWU Drill Team, which got its start in the 1960s, was honored on its 40th anniversary.

Paul Williams of San Francisco, who works as a longshoreman in the Port of Oakland, was among drill team members performing and attending the rally and picnic afterward.

"I don't want to just work," he said of his decision to join the 25-member drill team based in Northern California. "If I can represent the union and my brothers and sisters to help open doors for others, that's what I want to do. It's not all about (earning) the money."