Waiting to Strike

Supporters of immigration reform take sides over proposed boycott.
by Kara Ford-Martinez

On May 1, thousands of Angelenos will take to the streets to demand immigration reform from Congress; but the hour of these demonstrations differs depending who you talk to, and how far they are willing to go to protest what they say is irrational immigration legislation.

Following the impressive turnout for the downtown demonstration on March 25 and similar nationwide actions, organizers announced May 1 would be another chance to protest for reform. However, some groups have also planned a strike they’re calling the Great American Boycott of 2006, that leaders like Cardinal Roger Mahony have discouraged people from participating in. The differences have created a clear, if small, schism in the recent movement.

According to the A.N.S.W.E.R. L.A. Coalition’s website and the 150,000 flyers the group has passed out so far, protesters will meet on noon of May 1 at Olympic Boulevard and Broadway Street. Their plan is for workers and students to make May 1 a national “day without an immigrant.” On the streets of Los Angeles and in other metropolises like Chicago and San Francisco, strikers will show America what an average day in the U.S. could look like if illegal immigrants are sent packing.

“A.N.S.W.E.R. supports the worker’s right to strike and that’s what will be happening May 1,” says Carlos Alvarez from A.N.S.W.E.R.

“It’s not a boycott but a march and rally,” says Mary Guttierrez of We Are America, a coalition of 45 groups including C.L.U.E., an interfaith association of over 600 religious leaders who support immigrant workers, the Central American Resource Center, and the California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative.

According to Guttierrez, the We Are America Coalition does not advocate the strike and has told interested protesters to meet at 3 p.m. or later in MacArthur Park. But some have stated that if students and workers wait until after school and work to protest, May 1 will be just another demonstration.

“It’s still a progressive move,” says Alvarez. “But we’ve heard of groups that know there are strength in numbers. We support the boycott. It’s definitely taking the movement to a different level of commitment on the street. In Mexico they’re planning not to buy from transcontinental corporations on May 1. This shows solidarity.”

The fear that striking workers could lose their jobs is a concern for We Are America, says Gutierrez, as is the fact that absent students results in lost money for schools. “We don’t want people to feel that in order to show support they have to skip school or work,” Gutierrez says. “Not every worker can just pick up and leave for the day.”

“People are organizing in their workplaces,” says Alvarez. “May 1 is a sacrifice and they understand that.”

Both organizations agree that they have the same goal in common: to ask Congress to establish an immigration reform that is fair and rational. “Whether or not other organizations condone the strike is irrelevant,” Alvarez says. “We support all actions.”

Guttierez believes immigration reform will not happen overnight. It could take up to a year to be resolved. “The important thing to remember is that this isn’t the last demonstration.”   LAA