Cuffie introduced Gino Renne, President of Local 1994, who spoke of the county budget issues in the larger context of the events in the Midwestern US.   He connected the current situation with the circumstances that led to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968.  King had gone to Memphis TN to support the largely African-American sanitation workers who were demanding union representation and the respect and dignity that would come with it.

If you were unable to attend, I’ve tried to capture some of the tonal qualities of the voices of those who talked about their experiences, with some of the key quotes:

Kalpona translated with conviction from her first language for the Bangladeshi workers. She knew her ability to communicate others’ stories across language barriers was the most important thing she could be doing right then. It was the only way we could hear firsthand the sweatshop conditions experienced by those working in garment factories subcontracted by Walmart.

On the day of the fire at 4:40pm the 8th floor caught aflame (from what is thought to be a discarded cigarette), there was no plan, never even practice of a fire drill. After eighteen minutes of the fire, the last body jumped from the window ceil to her death. While some were saved from a jam packed elevator, others searched for a way to exit the flames that possessed their workplace. Unfortunately 146 people were caught in the inescapable fire. Some jumped holding hands, holding each other, while the others died in the midst of the fire. Charcoaled bodies were carried and brought down from the top three floors, later to be identified by family and friends.

By Jeremy Liu, International Labor Rights Forum