Social Security, health care coverage and other social concerns will be the focus of a Labor Day rally Monday, Sept. 6, at the Lincoln Senior Center, 1519 Water St.
Farm, labor, aging and veterans groups are the sponsors. The event, open to the public, starts with a free continental breakfast at 9 a.m., followed by discussion and community action at 9:30.
Sponsoring organizations are Family Dairies USA of Portage County, the Stevens Point/Portage County Central Labor Council, the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups and Veterans of Foreign Wars, Chapter 568.
Mel Bloom, president of the Central Labor Council, said the groups seek "to enlist our elected officials to do all necessary, within the powers of their offices, to remedy unfair and threatening policies that adversely affect family farmers, urban workers, the elderly and veterans."
He said Family Dairies USA, represents 7,000 farms in the Midwest and 3,000 in Wisconsin, and the Central Labor Council represents 23 local unions with 3,000 members.
Bloom and David Krug of Owen, national president of Family Dairies, said the concerns of farmers and workers include "the dumping of foreign dairy products and foreign paper and steel products, the lack of affordable health care, the attack on the Social Security system, unfair pricing for Wisconsin farmers, the right for workers to organize and bargain collectively, and the maintenance of veteran benefits."
Elected officials who represent Portage County have been invited to the rally, Bloom said.
Expected to be among the speakers at the rally, he said, are David Newby of the state AFL-CIO; Cindy Kiesling, a regional AFL-CIO representative who works with displaced workers; Pat Fuller, a widow with three children who will tell how Social Security helped her; Norm Myhra of the VFW; and Peter Mallek of Junction City, representing Family Dairies USA.
Bloom said there will be opportunities for audience participation.