Thousands of union members and supporters,  including UDW members from as far away as Modesto, Merced and Santa Barbara, sent a message of solidarity to public employees in Wisconsin at a candlelight vigil at the State Capitol in Sacramento.

Remarks by Astrid Zuniga Secretary/Treasurer UDW Stanislaus County Chapter,  State Capitol, February 22, 2011

I am here tonight because I fear for the future, for my future and my children’s future. I fear that our nation has forgotten what freedom means. It has forgotten that Americans have basic rights to political, social and economic freedom….

In his State of the Union message in January 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt suggested a “Second Bill of Rights”. Among the rights he proposed were:

• The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
• The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
• The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
• The right of every businessman, large or small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
• The right of every family to a decent home;
• The right to adequate medical care, and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
• The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment; and
• The right to a good education.

Throughout my life, it has been the unions who have fought to turn these rights into reality for all working Americans…

Today, in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and across the nation, we are being told that we must give up the fundamental rights that American workers and their families have fought so long to achieve….

I don’t know about you, but I am not going to just sit back and allow anyone to destroy all that we have worked so hard for. That’s why all of us are here tonight to support our sisters and brothers in Wisconsin and throughout the nation.

Click to see more photos from the Vigil