Rev. Brown, a faith ally of the United Workers, was told by police on March 6, 2009 that they would not allow him cross the street to the Inner Harbor and deliver notices to the three worst employers at the Inner Harbor. The notices are for economic human rights violations by the employers. Rev. Brown had been asked to deliver the notices after police threatened to stop the press conference and arrest workers if there was an attempt by workers to deliver the notices.
Read more about the Human Rights Zone press conference at Balimore's Inner Harbor.
This is the second time that police have prevented the United Workers from carrying out peaceful and non-disruptive expression at the Inner Harbor. On October 25, 2008 police would not allow workers to announce the Human Rights Zone Campaign directly across from the Inner Harbor. This forced the announcement to be moved to a location nearer the convention center than the Inner Harbor.
The Inner Harbor was created through public dollars. Once part of a working port, the Inner Harbor has long been at the heart of the city. So why won’t the city allow the public to demand that workers there get treated with respect, paid a living wage and have their rights to health care and education respected by employers? Just as with Camden Yards, a publicly owned and operated stadium paying poverty wages for private gains, we demand better. Workers had to announce to go on a hunger strike in 2007 in order to finally end the poverty wages and help make sure that public dollars result in public benefits.
Our city government has its priorities wrong when the police are used to block a pastor from hand delivering notices to restaurants that don’t even provide sick days for workers. The city should allow (not stop) workers to voice the demand that they not be required to come to work sick, throwing up on the restaurant deck, instead of being respecting by Inner Harbor employers. Workers have the right to demand that they be provided health care and paid time off. There’s something wrong when the public is not allowed to access to our waterfront, developed using public dollars and on land that’s long been at the heart of Baltimore.
The Inner Harbor is Our Harbor. That’s why on April 18, 2009 workers will return to the Harbor to make our demands known. We will speak directly to the worst employer, not hidden from view and across the street. This time we’ll have more than three posters and a pastor to carry our message. We have the voices of the hundreds of low-wage workers and hundreds of our allies.
The April 18, 2009 march concludes with a rally outside of the worst employer and then another rally at the Baltimore Visitor Center. The invisible workers at our Inner Harbor will be made invisible no more!
United Workers
Low-wage workers leading the way to poverty's end.
http://unitedworkers.org