Milwaukee, WI – A new date is being announced for the March on the Democratic National Convention: Monday, August 17. Organizers are going ahead with the march by discussing ways to make the protest safe and taking into account health guidelines. Due to the coronavirus crisis, the Democratic Party recently changed their dates, as they continue to discuss limiting participation at the convention.

“We are predicting even more people will protest outside the Democratic National Convention, given the health crisis. There is a complete failure of leadership in this country, and the Trump administration’s response is criminal. I don’t know how they can so generously bail out Wall Street as they watch people die by the thousands,” said Ryan Hamann, spokesperson for the Coalition.

Hamann continued, “The coronavirus crisis makes the Coalition’s nine progressive demands even more immediate. For example, we need ‘Medicare for All’ instead of profiteering for the few on Wall Street. We need a nationwide moratorium on rents and mortgages because millions are out of work, and millions more are working part time.”

One of the Coalition’s nine demands, “Fight to expand union and worker’s rights,” is especially pertinent as we are seeing a rise in workplace protests. At hospitals there are sign-holding protests for personal protective equipment (PPE), especially in states hit hard by the coronavirus. Similar actions are taking place at some union warehouses like UPS, but also at unorganized Amazon warehouses, and Amazon-owned businesses like Whole Foods.

Hamann says, “It is beyond belief that essential workers cannot get protective gear at work right now! Workers also deserve hazard pay for putting their lives at risk while saving others. In our state, Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, is doing so little to enforce the meaning of ‘essential businesses’; that it is undermining protective stay-at-home orders.”

Hamann sums up, “On a global scale, we need to end U.S. sanctions that harm people in other countries. We could actually work together and help one another fight the virus and save lives. The whole world is going to remember China for sending masks and ventilators, Cuba for sending doctors, and the U.S. for sending U.S. Navy warships to the coast of Venezuela. Unbelievable!”

Organizers are planning to start with dozens of speakers at a 10 a.m. rally on Monday, August 17, and then to march within sight and sound of the DNC at the Fiserv Forum. The Coalition to March on the DNC is still demanding a permit from democrat Mayor Tom Barrett, who is stubbornly refusing. The Coalition intends to file a lawsuit against Mayor Barrett and the city of Milwaukee to win their right to a permit.

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