May Day 2010 Sparks New Collaborations

May Day in Rochester this year saw a coming together of dozens of groups for the planning a participation of a Celebration of Worker's History. Julie Shmidke, an organizer from Next Generation United opened the festivities by explaining the History of May day:

"Today is the day the world celebrates the struggle of workers who won the 8 hour work day. Its a Holiday that started here in America and is celebrated all over the world, except for in America. They took it away from us years ago because it was too scary and too dangerous and we asked too many questions. The last few years in cities around the country workers have been fighting to bring it back, for Immigration Reform, for workers rights, for all the things that we fight for to make our lives better"

This 8 minute video features short snip-its of the speeches, chants and signs from Saturday.

Other groups co-sponsoring the event were AARM (Activist Against Racism Movement), Civil Rights Front, The Flying Squirrel Collective, ISO (International Socialist Organization), IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), Metro Justice, Next Generation United, Pride at Work, RAW (Rochester Against War), Rochester Indymedia, SDS (Student for a Democratic Society)