ASHEVILLE – Local unions and activist groups are joining a nationwide and global movement on May Day, or International Workers Day, with planned protests in downtown Asheville and Hendersonville on May 1.
More than 1,000 events and protests are planned throughout the country during the “National Day of Action.” In the heart of downtown Asheville, 22 local organizations plan to gather at Pack Square Pavilion around 3 p.m. for chants, music and speakers, according to Jen Hampton , an organizer with WNC Workers Assembly and Asheville Food & Beverage United.
Speakers will discuss the privatization of public services like the U.S. Postal Service and public education, immigration issues, using federal disaster recovery funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to “build Asheville back in a more sustainable way” and “protecting our rights to organize from attempts to strip our labor rights at the federal level,” Hampton said…