PARKERSBURG - Members of the West Virginia AFL-CIO and the West Virginia Alliance for Retired Americans sponsored a Rally for Justice in Bicentennial Park Thursday.
Brian Stanley, president of the Parkersburg Area Labor Council, said the rally was to present the money raised at hot dog sales to the Bureau of the Public Debt and to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain and the 76th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act.
"In 10 locations across the state we sold hot dogs for five cents each," he said. "This was the 'Hot Dog Sale for the Really Rich' and raised $1,457 from the sale of 26,340 hot dogs in 10 communities."
Stanley said U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was invited to the rally but did not attend. Instead, he said, the groups had a cardboard cutout to stand in for the speaker.
"We are rallying to support Social Security," he said. "The politicians on both sides need to leave Social Security alone. It's what many people rely on to live."
The rally was followed by a short march to the Bureau of the Public Debt building to give the money to the treasury, Stanley said.
Sterling Ball, president of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said in West Virginia a healthy Social Security program is important.
Gary Zuckett, director of West Virginia Citizen Action and West Virginia United for Social and Economic Justice, said it is time to clear up what he said was a misconception about Social Security.
He said Tea Party members want to cut Social Security to pay off the debt. Social Security is a "pay as you go" program funded by working men and women of this nation and has added not one nickel to the debt, Zuckett said.
Larry Matheney, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, said having the rally on the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain was appropriate.
"The United Mine Workers marched from Charleston to Logan County for justice and they were willing to die," he said. "I'm not asking anyone in the state of West Virginia to lay down their lives for justice today, but I'm suggesting to you that if you are not out in the streets and making your voice heard, you'll not have a voice. We shall receive what we are willing to stand up and fight for."
Matheney said today's congressional leaders are not willing to do anything for the middle class
"If you believe someone like John Boehner is going to give the working families of West Virginia or any other state a fair shake you are living in a world of dreams," he said. "What we must remember is that 76 years ago Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who understood the plight of the unemployed, the elderly, the weak and the children, signed into law the Social Security Act and it's as relevant to our society today as it was 76 years ago. We are going to lose it if we don't fight for it."
Matheney said while the hot dog sales and the check were tongue in cheek, it got attention and the groups need to keep the ball rolling. On Sept. 5 people need to be out on the streets talking about jobs, he said.
"There is no such thing as a jobless recovery; it's an oxymoron," he said. "When 70 percent of the economy is consumer spending it won't work; we've got to be in the streets."
