Frozen solidarity - a pro-labor rally in Anchorage.

[Blue_In_AK]

I didn't learn about this until too late to be there, but I'm happy to see that Anchorage had a solidarity rally, as well as Juneau. Pictures at the link.

http://alaskacommons.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/frozen-solidarity-a-pro-labor-rally-in-anchorage/

Coldest. Rally. Ever.

Okay, not really, but it was pretty freaking cold.

The heavy winds that made downtown Anchorage feel very much like Fairbanks this Saturday greeted a healthy sized crowd of around fifty or sixty people who gathered in front of the Hilton hotel on 3rd Avenue to stand up for – and with – our unions. Clutching signs and belting out a cadre of familiar pro-labor chants while carefully navigating slippery ice patches that covered the sidewalk, those who braved the weather to show their support for working Alaskans were constantly encouraged by passing traffic that honked loudly in support, while very confused hotel patrons idled in the lobby, unsure of what to make of the spectacle. I’m guessing they’ll book another hotel next time.

It was really cold. So we walked and chanted, hoping that would inspire our extremities to make it through the hour.

There seems to be a lot of complacence in Anchorage about union solidarity (well, complacence and misinformation). I’ve heard the dismissal that “we’re a union state” brandished countless times as an excuse for why we don’t need to worry. But Alaska’s proud pro-labor, pro-worker tradition alone is not enough to keep us a union state. The Hilton and Sheraton have been under boycott for well over a year, after the hotels owners (Columbia Sussex and Remington Hotels) raised workers’ family health insurance premiums and increased their workloads. The news outlets have largely stopped covering it.

<snip>

Next rally, I hope you’ll join us in getting the message read loud and clear that the Alaska some are calling for in Juneau and in top story boardrooms and conference calls from Texas will not be allowed to come to fruition. Not on the backs of American workers.

Just make sure you bring a coat. A really big, puffy coat.

[xxqqqzme]

1. Excellent!

Your OP made me cold.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. It's been brutal here the past couple of days.

but I would have gone to this if I had known it was happening. We were downtown yesterday for a little bit doing other things, but it was very windy and bitterly cold.

[Little Star]

2. Good on Alaska! It looks friggin cold for those protesters.

[roguevalley]

4. man it was cold. blew down a tree in my sister's yard. I held my

breath and none fell. I never know about these until its over. :( thanks for the news, blue

[Blue_In_AK]

6. I missed the rally, too.

We had been into town for the Rondy frostbite footrace and the parade and wanted to check out the sled dog races and so on, but it was much too cold to stay down there. The wind was whipping down through those tall buildings and we were freezing. Later I got on Facebook and saw that the rally was happening, but it was too late to get back down there in time, plus we had a nice fire going. :) I felt bad that I wasn't there, but I just didn't get the word in time.

[suffragette]

5. K&R and

brrrrr!

Good on them!