On Friday evening, a “Rally for the Working Class” was held in Brook Park at the UAW Local 1250 Hall. Bringing out some heavy hitters from our national unions, the rally was in support of the working class and a local union pipefitter, Brian Poindexter, vying for Republican Max Miller’s seat in Congress.
Speakers from various labor unions fired up the crowd prior to Poindexter talking about the importance of labor unions and the working class. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten spoke, as did the national president for the AFL-CIO, Liz Shuler. Poindexter took to the stage and then introduced members of Boston’s Dropkick Murphys, who also flew in to show their support for Poindexter and the Labor Movement.
The band, a Boston favorite, really gained notoriety after the Boston Marathon bombing several years ago. Known for their Celtic-flavored punk, they’ve really developed a sound that appeals to the Everyman.
“If we were a ‘Republican’ band, some rich prick would’ve probably flown us in on their private jet,” Casey said. “But we came here in Economy on Delta, through Detroit.” To which he elicited a cheer from the thousand or so Union members and their families that came to the rally right off of Route 71, adjacent to the new Browns stadium being built right across the street.
Afterwards, the band played about a half dozen songs, ending with both “The Workers’ Song” and “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” as a golden sun set on a beautiful Fall evening.
Founder and lead vocalist Ken Casey was joined by lead guitarist Tim Brennan, multi-instrumentalist Jeff DaRosa, and relative DKM newcomer Campbell Webster on the tin whistle.
Here’s all the action we caught.
