Metro Detroit union members protest NLRB and rally for Obama

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081018/METRO/810180407&imw=Y

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Hundreds of union members from across Metro Detroit gathered Saturday at the federal building downtown to protest President Bush's administration and the National Labor Relations Board for what union members called an assault on workers' rights and the middle class.

The Workers NOW! Coalition organized a march from Michigan and Trumbull to the rally at the federal building near Michigan and Cass. It was also a show of support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Many attendees wore Obama campaign shirts, held signs showing support for Obama or other campaign-related items.

Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO told the crowd to take Nov. 3 and 4 off to help get Obama elected. He said this would send a message to corporations and Republicans that unions have clout.

"That is union power," he told the cheering crowd. "That is what we need to do."

Participants in the rally held signs deriding the NLRB and calling for more workers' rights.

Congress created the NLRB in 1935 to administer the National Labor Relations Act, the primary law governing relations between unions and employers in the private sector, according to the NLRB's website.

NLRB officials told The News Thursday that it does not take sides in labor disputes, but makes decisions based on facts.

FULL story at link.

[Merlot]

1. Might want to re-word the headline

sounds like they protested NLRB and the rally