The AFL-CIO called a demonstration that was "tied to specific, realistic demands made against specific people and institutions" on August 23, 2004:
<blockquote>PROTEST BUSH'S OT GRAB -- Millions of workers could lose their overtime pay protections beginning Aug. 23, when the Bush administration's new overtime rules go into effect. Workers around the country are planning to protest the Bush overtime pay take-away at rallies, meetings and more, including an Aug. 23 Washington, D.C., rally and demonstration outside the U.S. Department of Labor. <http://www.aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/wip/wip08162004.cfm></blockquote>
How many workers showed up?
According to the Baltimore Sun, "[a] couple of hundred people":
<blockquote>The Baltimore Sun August 24, 2004 Tuesday FINAL Edition SECTION: BUSINESS, Pg. 1D LENGTH: 912 words HEADLINE: Changes in overtime law protested by hundreds at Washington rally; Union, political activists gather at Labor Department to decry rules now in effect BYLINE: Stacey Hirsh SOURCE: SUN STAFF DATELINE: WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON - A couple of hundred people rallied outside the U.S. Department of Labor here yesterday to protest the Bush administration's sweeping changes to overtime rules that opponents say could cost millions of Americans their right to overtime pay but advocates say will help clarify archaic and confusing rules.
As the changes went into effect yesterday, labor and political activists in front of the Labor Department headquarters yelled, "First they send our jobs away, now they want to cut our pay," and carried signs that said, "Pres. Bush: Hands off my overtime pay!" and "Save overtime!"
"The Department of Labor should be enforcing labor laws, not rewriting them," said Teresa Caruthers, a registered nurse from Baltimore who spoke at the protest. . . .
. . . [A]t the noon rally outside the Labor Department, AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney pledged to turn back the rules and Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who has been a staunch opponent of the regulations, declared yesterday "anti-labor day." Harkin and Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican who also spoke at the rally, pledged to continue their fight to repeal the overtime changes. . . .
Others at the overtime rally included representatives from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, American Federation of Teachers, United Steelworkers of America, National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers. . . .
GRAPHIC: Photo(s), 1. Critics of the changed rules for overtime pay march along Constitution Avenue in front of the Department of Labor.; 2. AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney (left) shakes hands with Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Both seek repeal of the new rules.; 3. Brandon Rees leads protesters in shouting slogans during rally on Constitution Avenue against the new rules for overtime pay.; 4. Teresa Caruthers, a Baltimore nurse, says she stopped working extra shifts after learning of the changes to get used to less pay.; JOHN MAKELY : SUN STAFF PHOTOS</blockquote> -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>