ORGANIZERS GEAR UP FOR RALLY.Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer Readying for a massive national rally on May 1, organizers are calling on employers not to punish employees who skip work to protest, while state legislators are expected to vote this week on a resolution that would formally recognize a boycott. For weeks, organizers have been calling for a massive mobilization on May 1, Labor Day Labor Day, holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894. in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. or International Workers Day abroad, to show the force of the undocumented immigrant community across the U.S. -- an estimated 5 percent of the U.S. work force. Though organizers have been split about whether the protest should include a work, school and economic boycott -- they have been carefully working to broaden their coalition over the past two weeks. ``This whole movement is snowballing Snowballing Used in the context of general equities. Process by which the exercise of stop orders in a declining or advancing market causes further downward or upward pressure on prices, thus triggering more stop orders and more price pressure, and so on. not just in the size but also in the composition of the coalition. It's diversifying, it's not just Latinos,'' said Nativo Lopez Lawrence "Nativo" Lopez (born 1951) is a Chicano political leader and immigrant rights activist in Southern California. Lopez is the president of the Mexican American Political Association and the executive director of the Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana (formerly the Hermandad , the president of the Mexican American Political Association Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) is an organization that promotes the interests of Mexican-Americans in the United States. History Following a 1959 summit of 150 Mexican American leaders in Fresno, California, MAPA was formed in 1960 as a means to . In the coming days, he expects Filipino, Muslim and African immigrant organizations to announce they will join the boycott. In the Korean community, some employers have been bracing for the boycott, expecting many of their Latino workers to call in sick, said Danny Park, executive director of the Korean Immigrant Workers Alliance. Some small businesses plan to close for the day. Last week, the Korean Apparel Manufactures Association sent out letters to its 1,000 members who employ an estimated 30,000 workers asking them not to retaliate against workers who don 3/8t show up for work that day. ``We don't want a confrontation between employers and employees,'' said Mike Lee, the association's president. ``We want to stand together.'' Angelica angelica (ănjĕl`ĭkə), any species of the genus Angelica, plants of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), native to the Northern Hemisphere and New Zealand, valued for their potency as a medicament and protection against Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said she expects most of those participating to be students and longtime Latino activists. ``Day laborers day labor n. Labor hired and paid by the day. day laborer n. Noun 1. and low-wage workers can't give up their day of work. It's not that they don't support this, it's economic.'' rachel.uranga@dailynews.com (818) 713-3741 |
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