Volusia-Flagler union members join national Workers First Caravan
DELAND — At the end of the parking lot, across from the United States Postal Service, a small, but diverse group of people got together with a mission in mind: persuade senators to pass the HEROES Act.
HEROES stands for Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions.
“Our priorities are to keep the front line workers safe and secure,” Daniel Kurczi, president of the Volusia/Flagler Central Labor Council, a part of the AFL-CIO, said. “Workers in America need us to reopen safely, not prematurely.”
Kurczi was one of about a dozen people who gathered late Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot near the intersection of East New York and South Amelia avenues to participate in the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations’ “Workers First Caravan for Racial and Economic Justice.”
Other caravans took place at the same time across the country, and participants in each one affixed signs to their vehicles and, in some cases, motorcycles. Messages, some in English and some in Spanish, on the signs included: “Union Members for Black Lives;” “Fund Essential Public Services Now!;” and “Workplace Safety Now!”
“We want to make sure people are well aware of what’s happening, and a lot of our Black workers, too, they’re facing so many injustices in the workplace,” said Rob Martin, an organizer and staff representative with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees of Florida.
Per the AFL-CIO, the country is facing three major crises: “a public health pandemic, an economic free fall and long-standing structural racism.”
What’s needed to address those issues and to take on “racial injustice directly” are “America’s Five Economic Essentials,” according to the AFL-CIO.
Those essentials, per the AFL-CIO, are:
- Keep front-line workers safe and secure.
- Keep workers employed and protect earned pension checks.
- Keep state and local governments, public schools and the U.S. Postal Service solvent and working.
- Keep America healthy by protecting and expanding health insurance for all workers.
- Keep America competitive by hiring people to build infrastructure.
After making sure their messages were displayed on their cars, the group headed west toward City Hall, 120 S. Florida Ave., to make a few passes around the building where Congressman Michael Waltz, who last month voted against the HEROES Act, has an office.
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In a statement on his website, Waltz explained why he’d be voting against it: “The coronavirus pandemic has completely upended our country. Take a look at the latest unemployment numbers and you’ll see that Americans need help.”
Waltz went on to say that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had “prioritized the whims of the far left, putting in hundreds of millions of dollars of provisions completely unrelated to this pandemic — all without any input from members across the aisle,” and Americans suffering “need solutions, not wish lists.”
“Obviously, we feel strongly the other way,” Kurczi said. “It seems that Congressman Waltz is not interested in protecting America’s workers.”
One of the participants in the caravan in DeLand was Vanessa Lee, a retired teacher who spent 35 years in Volusia County’s schools. She said she felt it was important to be a voice for those who are still working and feel they can’t speak out for fear of losing their jobs.
“Yes, we do need to keep living, we do need to open up the state and local government,” Lee said.
But to do those things, front-line workers need the support to be able to do their jobs safely and effectively, Lee, a member of Volusia United Educators’ chapter for retirees, said.
“I think that we need that stimulus package to keep American society, if you will, moving,” Lee said.
The retired teacher said, as a Black woman, she’s felt nervous most days because of the pandemic and recent incidents of violence by police against Black people.
“I used to think that if I lived right, I would not have to worry about police brutality, but now I see it’s not that way,” Lee said. “How can you have your knee on somebody’s neck and hear them begging for mercy and you show no mercy? That’s a mental health issue to me.”