Boston Area Events Celebrate May Day 2011

BOSTON and Chelsea MA - Two events were held in the Boston area on May 1st to celebrate May Day - the traditional international workers holiday. About 200 people held a May Day rally on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. City Counselor Charles Yancey Jean Claud Sanon Kwami Somburu Sergio Reyes of the Boston May Day Committee and Tito Meza of Proyecto Hondureno were featured speakers. There was also a performance by Bread and Puppet Theater. The attendees then proceeded to Maverick Square in East Boston then marched down Meridian St. with allies from several unions and community organizations to Chelsea City Hall - where they met up with another group of marchers coming from Everett. Over 600 people attended the Chelsea rally. Speeches by leaders of SEIU Local 615 Centro Presente Chelsea Collaborative and Jobs with Justice followed rounds of singing and chanting. The May Day activities capped a week of activism - including a contentious public hearing on the "Secure Communities" Program sponsored by the MA Executive Office of Public Safety held Thursday at Chelsea High School. Most audience members called for better wages and working conditions for immigrants and the protection of civil rights and human rights. The events were peaceful. There were no incidents and no arrests. Photo by David Goodman. This article is a news brief. Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati