More-than 1,000 people turned out in a two-hour march-rally yesterday, July 10th, and proved that the community is “the heart of Long Beach”

The march was led by the Long Beach Coalition for Better Jobs and Healthy Communities. It started with a picket at the Hilton Hotel at 5:00 p.m. Then the coalition marched to the Long Beach Light House near the Aquarium of the Pacific where they held an hour-long rally.

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Thanks so much for coming out and showing your support yesterday!  This was an important first step to raise awareness about poverty and the need for good jobs in the tourism industry in Long Beach.  Your participation and energy were greatly appreciated!

In solidarity,

Maya Raquel Anderson
Senior Community Organizer
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
464 Lucas Ave.
Los Angeles, CA  90017
213-977-9400 x 107

Below are some links to video, photos and articles about the event:

Video
http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_9848400?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com

Photos
http://presstelegram.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=554431

Press Telegram Article (from 7/10)
http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_9833714?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com


La Opinion
http://www.impre.com/noticias/2008/7/11/long-beach-en-la-mira-sindical-67016-1.html

KPFK (2 reports)
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/

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Led by Hilton Hotel workers who are organizing themselves, Filipino-, Latino-and African-American hotel workers demanded hotel-administration neutrality over their efforts to organize themselves.

Filipino worker Herman Carreon said in an interview: “Enough is enough, I have worked for seven years in Hilton but I only got three-cent raise a year. Our wages are pegged at eight dollars and the hotel kept on cutting hours every time they like.

“The worst, they give us more hours every time there are lots of tourists but they never paid overtime. I have asthma and a lot of work hours makes me sick and then we have no health insurance.

“While at the same time hotel owners’ celebrity daughters Paris Hilton and her sister go on luxurious living and flaunting it while we workers suffer.”

Giant effigies and banners calling for the community unity like “TAYO ANG PUSO NG LONG BEACH”  MAKIBAKA HUWAG MATAKOT, SI SE PUEDE were prominently displayed.

Scores of Filipino workers from different hotels, students and  youth leaders from Cal State University and  World War II veterans from the Justice for Filipino American (JFAV) joined the march.

The only time Long Beach is alive with activism is when the ILWU, the biggest union of port workers in the West Coast which controls the ports of Long Beach, march on May Day every year. The march for jobs is truly a rare display of multi-national unity in Long Beach. Long Beach is one-third Filipino. The LA County, including Long Beach and Los Angeles area, have a population of more-than 300,000 Filipinos. # # #

Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV)

July 11, 2008

Contact: Arturo P. Garcia

Phone –(213) 241-0906