On November 17, 1199SEIU members rallied at the North Washington Street Bridge near Dewey Square in Boston with hundreds of other union members, seniors, people with disabilities, and working families to urge Congress to help working families, create jobs, end funding cuts, and help repair the economic damage done to the country. The rally was part of a national day of solidarity with the Occupy movement which has faced evictions from public spaces in many cities. The North Washington Street Bridge, which connects Boston’s North End and Charlestown neighborhoods, is in desperate need of repair. Advocates said it is a perfect example of how jobs could be created through much-needed investments in the nation’s infrastructure.

Chanting “This is what democracy looks like” and “We are the 99 percent”, union members, concerned citizens and their supporters marched from Dewey Square, the site of the Occupy Boston encampment, to the bridge holding signs and banners. At the bridge, several members of the Boston Building Trades unions and Iron Workers Local 7 spoke about the crumbling bridges across our country as a metaphor for our crumbling economic system. The workers also spoke of the need for Congress to side with working families during this tough economic period. Investing in job creation and ensuring fair taxation of corporations and the super-rich were a key theme of the event.

1199SEIU members were passionate about the issues and cheered with the crowd as the iron workers spoke and chanted songs about the need for Congress to be accountable to working families.

Lisa Ivey, a personal care attendant from Randolph, said that Congress should be thinking more of middle and lower class families than about rich corporate interests. “I feel that it’s about time we spend the country’s money wisely. We spend money on wars, but we are not focusing on our everyday necessities,” she said.

1199SEIU member Janet Stevens-Nolan from Western Massachusetts said that she wanted to represent the needs of Western Massachusetts families at the event in Boston. “I’m here because I am a worker. We are all part of the 99 percent,” she said.

During the rally, Akesha Baptiste, a personal care attendant from Boston, was spiritedly chanting at the rally and bonding with other rally participants. Akesha, a member of Purple Gold, the 1199SEIU program that encourages union members under 35 to become more active in the union, said that the rally symbolized to her the need for young workers in this country to have a future. “As a young worker, we need to preserve jobs. I want to work for a long time and preserve my future,” she said, highlighting the fact that job security is a major concern for young workers in this country.

After the rally at the bridge, the march continued around the North End, with hundreds of people walking through the streets chanting, singing and holding signs.