‘There’s something happening here’ But rallies need unions, like unions need community support

There wasn’t an absence of union people in the crowd of more than 1,000 stretching between Knoxville and Wisconsin on U.S. Route 150 in Peoria on May 3.

But there was no organized labor.

There were no banners from the Teachers, Building Trades, Teamsters, SEIU or Postal Workers despite those unions’ lawsuits and other grievances over, respectively, threats in education, illegally deported Sheet Metal Worker Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Amazon’s ties to the White House, and risks of Medicaid cuts hurting people who need home health care, nursing home assistance, privatizing the Post Office – much less a trade war affecting consumers and workers.

Still, Marty Clinch, a retired IBEW worker demonstrating with a half dozen other electrical workers, said it’s time to call it like it is.

“Everything they say is complete BS. They’re pulling stuff all the time, and it’s affecting us all,” he said. “And as time goes on, more and more people are going to get ticked off.”

On the heels of April’s “Hands Off” rallies and other national days of action, Americans upset with the Whie House and its loyalists and billionaires upending the country and culture have turned out in U.S. communities from Anchorage to Gulfport, Miss., plus big cities, small towns, and mid-sized markets like Peoria.

Speaking to a crowd in New York City, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said, “[The Trump administration] should be afraid of the power of labor and everyday workers across the country. When they see us gather in the street, you should know that when I go back to Washington, they talk about it and they are getting very afraid. They are getting nervous.”

It was similar at recent events in west-central Illinois on April 26, too.

* That day, about 100 people turned out at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Peoria, where the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria held a “Shine On Democracy” rally and roundtable. There, LWV Vice President for Issues & Advocacy Kathy Cortez talked about a proposed law endangering voting rights, Peoria Area Food Bank manager Wayne Cannon listed dire consequences if Congress passes the White House’s “big, beautiful bill” that could cut SNAP food stamps, and others discussed Trump eliminating public media, officials not following the rule of law, withholding funding for the arts, and an overall constitutional crisis.

But there was no labor presence.

* That afternoon, the UAW hall in East Peoria was filled to capacity with more than 800 people gathered to protest area Congressman Darin LaHood’s surrender to the MAGA agenda (and refusal to hold town halls or meet with people). There, the energy was boisterous, but no union banners were raised besides the Autoworkers, affixed to walls.

The frequent chant was “We won’t go back!” and dozens of signs defended veterans and voters, teachers and  libraries, workers whose government jobs and programs have been eliminated and individual rights.

Ill. Rep. Sharon Chung (D-91^st) said public participation is vital, and she recalled when she felt called to get involved politically.

“I lived in a neighborhood in Bloomington-Normal where on one side of the street the Representative was Darin LaHood, and other side was Rodney Davis,” she said. “Talk about a crap sandwich!”

LaHood faces challenges, from his constituents and from three newcomers considering runs against him. Joe Albrights from East Peoria and Paul Nolley from Rockford have filed their candidacies, and Rivian worker Scott Best may throw his hat into the ring.

Retired autoworker Rick Taylor said the crisis can’t be about one person, whether Darin LaHood or Donald Trump.

“It’s not just a crazy man,” he said. “It’s a crazy group of men.”

Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, a WIU professor commenting about rousing rallies, said, “Sometimes big energy is needed to mark change. If you are looking for that kind of energy, you don’t have to look far to find it. Across the country – from the lettuce fields of California to classrooms in Chicago, from kitchens in Queens to loading docks in Atlanta – working people are rising up and speaking out against the injustices in our country.”

In Macomb, she added, the focus was civil rights, adequate funding for public schools at all levels, and fair labor rights.

Nationally, the 50501 grassroots group that’s helped organizers of marches and rallies said, “Donald Trump has defied a direct, binding order from the United States Supreme Court. This is the moment that confirms our Constitution has been crippled.”

Taylor, the retiree from UAW Local 974, blasted the White House, Congressional Republicans, and Cabinet officials appointed for their loyalty instead of their expertise.

“They don’t really care about anything,” Taylor said. “They want to take for themselves.”

His wife Marsha added, “It’s been building. I was at Darin’s last town hall meeting, I think 2017 at Five Points, and even then there was a lot of booing and howling.”

Steve Fairbanks, a veteran and retired AFSCME worker whose dad was an electrical worker for about 40 years, said the May 3 rally was larger than the April 26 event.

“People at first can be a little timid, maybe hesitant to protest,” he said. “But they came out today.”

In Washington, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said, “We have tens of thousands of people showing up to rallies, and protests, and town halls – working folks who are ready to do something. We have entire communities coming out to protect their immigrant neighbors. We have brave lawyers taking the fight to this administration and winning in court, so that thousands of Americans can return to their jobs.

“And we have people continuing to organize,” she continued. “Workers are saying: ‘If the government isn’t going to fight for me, or raise my wages to a livable wage, I’ll stand with my co-workers and do it myself’.”

In the Peoria area, Clinch said people absolutely have to step up, and that include labor unions.

“As we used to say on the job site outside,  “Get off your ass, get on your feet. Get out of the shade and into the heat.”