New Haven Independent

The confrontation took place Thursday during New Haven’s 22nd annual May Day celebration. Better known in the U.S. as a spring holiday (pictured are kids wrapping the traditional Maypole), Thursday’s crowd decided to take some action.

John Jairo Lugo of Unidad Latina en Acción/Latinos United in Action said a worker had come to the group complaining that his former employer had refused to pay him his final wages, after the worker quit without notice. Lugo said last week his group handed Tony Marchitto (pictured on the left, with Lugo on the right), the owner of Temple Grill, a letter asking that he pay the worker, but never got a response. So, Lugo said, “We’re going to use May Day — the day of the workers — to go over there and tell the guy, listen, we’re here and we want an answer.” Lugo added that the same worker, Saul Ramirez, was owed $800 in overtime pay.

More than two dozen supporters walked the block from the Green to Temple Grill, filling the restaurant which was otherwise almost empty at 4 p.m., with employees getting ready for the evening crowd.

Marchitto came out to talk to Lugo and Fátima Rojas of ULA. He repeatedly said his attorney would respond to the letter, but he didn’t say when. When pressed to pay the worker or explain why he wouldn’t, Marchitto said he felt harassed by all the protesters in his restaurant. They left but said they’d be back on Monday if they didn’t get a response.

On the sidewalk, Rojas (pictured at the top of the story) led some chants. Click here to listen.

Back on the Green, Frank Panzarella (pictured), one of the event’s organizers, said he was pleased that this year, along with the usual radical political groups, peace groups and non-profits, more unions have stepped up to endorse the event, including the United Food and Commercial Workers regional union based in New Jersey.

“It’s nice to see,” he said, “and the combination of culture and issues is still going strong, and that’s still at the heart of May Day, of the arts and politics at the same time.” He said the crowd was a little thinner than in the past few years. In 2006, at the height of national protests by immigrants for legislation that would give them a road to citizenship, the May Day immigrants’ rights rally drew more than 1,000 people.

This year there were no more than 150 people, and the march was more broadly for workers’ rights, but it was a spirited crowd nevertheless that marched down Chapel Street — with a police escort - - and around a few blocks before returning to the Green.

During the afternoon, the Planned Parenthood table had lots of customers. “We have all sorts of pamphlets about birth control, STIs, also the services we offer at Planned Parenthood,” said staffer Emily Rosenfield. “We’re giving away stickers, pens, male and female condoms, and asking people to sign our petition for the Healthy Teens Act, which is comprehensive sex ed for Connecticut.” She said it’s still alive, with a budget line of $500,000. “We’re hoping that stays in the final budget and the program will be implemented.”

One of the last speakers of the day was Jack Mordente, who runs the Vets Center at Southern Connecticut State University, where many veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan attend. He referenced a Rand study released earlier in the week claiming that one out of five combat veterans is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, but only a minority of them seek care, held back by the stigma attached to admitting to such a problem, and also by the fact that the supply of services can’t meet the demand.

“It’s the age-old story of veterans having to fight for their benefits after every war,” he said. He urged support for a comprehensive G.I. Bill sponsored by Vietnam vet and now Senator James Webb, at a cost of about $3 billion a year. “It’s a lot of money, in spite of the fact that the amount of money being spent on veterans’ care doesn’t compare to the billions being spent on the war, they still look on it as too much money.” Click here for more. (The National Priorities Project’s Iraq War ticker at 10 p.m. on Thursday night showed the total cost of the war to date is $516,032,500,000 - that’s more than half a trillion dollars - and five minutes later it was up to $516,032,900,000. New Haven’s share to date is $254.3 million.)

The free vegetarian food surprisingly lasted all afternoon. Speeches, skits, teach-ins and music rounded out the day.