Washington March About Jobs, Civil Rights

In a recent talk before the American Heritage Foundation at York College in Jamaica, Assemblymember Brian McLaughlin asserted that the 1963 March on Washington was assuredly civil rights inspired, but was also about the need for job equality.

The event, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the historic march, was organized by A. Philip Randolph, a reknowned labor leader, said McLaughlin, himself a labor leader as head of the 1.1-million-member New York City Central Labor Council.

McLaughlin stated: "Many people think of the March on Washington as a protest against racial strife in the south in the early ’50s and ’60s. While racial discrimination was certainly the motivating factor, we cannot forget that A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, originally called for this March as a way to emphasize the need for job equality.

"In fact, [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s] speech on the Mall clearly underscored the link between the labor movement and the civil rights rally. He said, ‘We know we have no future in which six million black and white people are unemployed and live in poverty.’"

The NY Mets presented leaders of the labor and civil rights movements with the “Spirit Award” for their tireless work on this huge and historic project. Jae Weong Seo; Brian McLaughlin; Dr. Annie B. Martin; Hector Figueroa; Secretary/Treasurer, SEIU Local 32 BJ, accepting for President Michael Fishman; Carrier Gleason, HERE organizer, accepting for President Peter Ward. The scoreboard welcome sign to the Freedom Ride.

McLaughlin (D–Flushing/ Richmond Hill) continued:

"In the 40 years that have passed since those powerful words, it can be said that while racial discrimination has not been totally eradicated, we can point to many objectives having been met and legislative remedies enacted.

"Yet discrimination in the workplace still exists, seemingly immune to Dr. King’s vision. That is why the labor movement, inspired by the Civil Rights pioneers, [has] organized the Immigrant Workers Freedom ride, culminating on October 4 in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in an attempt to reinvigorate the push for workers’ rights."

The 40th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington event was sponsored by Congressmember Gregory Meeks (D–Southeast Queens).

At the recent kickoff of the Freedom Ride event, a nationwide effort to secure legislative remedies for immigrant workers, the New York Mets presented labor and civil rights leaders with a Spirit Award for their tireless work on this huge, historic project.

The award recipients are Brian McLaughlin, President of the NYC Central Labor Council and NYC Chairman of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride; Roger Toussaint, President, TWU Local 100; Peter Ward, President, HERE Hotel/Motel Trades Council; Michael Fishman, President, SEIU Local 32 BJ and Doctor Annie B. Martin, President of the New York branch of the NAACP.