Friday evening, January 26, Chicago & Midwest members joined other union members and community activists for a bus trip to Washington DC to participate in a massive march to protest the war in Iraq. Members Daisy Sewell, Donald Binford, Barbara Johnson, Dee and Sarah Jones, Leticia Garduno, Alicia Posada, David Hale, Oliva Alvarez and retiree Willie Mae Brown made the trip to represent our Joint Board.

As everyone gathered at the UNITE HERE office in Chicago to board busses, reporters from local TV and radio stations were on hand and interviewed 3 of our members who shared their views about the terrible situation in Iraq and their determination to voice their sentiment against the war.  A spirited rally followed and Manager Noel Beasley spoke to the crowd with words of encouragement and thanks to our members for representing our Union in our efforts to bring an end to the war in Iraq.  The march was a huge success as over 500,000 Americans joined in.

Following Saturday's march, members Donald Binford, from Western Piece Dyers, and Daisy Sewell from Angelica, along with staff member Yvette Farris for a Lobby Day training Sunday and a full day of lobbying Illinois Congressmen and both Senators Dick Durbin and Barak Obama to persuade them to Vote NO! on the supplemental money the Bush administration will soon ask the Congress and Senate to approve for future war funding.  Along with our members, 800 union members and other community activists participated in Lobby Day and their voices were heard loud and clear all around the hall of Congress and the Senate. 

Although they did not get full commitments from all, Congressman Danny Davis assured the delegation who visited him that he fully supports the effort to end the war by using Congress' "power of the purse" to deny further funding.  An aide to Senator Obama briefed the delegation on a binding resolution the Senator will introduce in the Senate calling for immediate withdrawals to begin and to bring all troops home by March 31, 2008.  

Our members made the trip with determination and pride and did a great job of representing our Joint Board as they voiced their concerns and called for an end to the war in Iraq.

Leticia Garduno being interviewed by a TV Reporter