Union members protest GOP bills;

cite threat to middle class

By Jon Seidel

Last Modified: Mar 11, 2011 02:02AM

INDIANAPOLIS — Union workers who crowded the Capitol grounds to oppose Republican-backed labor bills Thursday say their massive protest was successful, even though official crowd estimates came in well under expectations.

Thousands of laborers huddled together for hours through bitter cold winds and hints of snow outside the Statehouse. They carried signs with slogans like “Create Jobs — Not Division” and “I’m Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired.”

One man dressed as Santa Claus, and others nestled a “fat-cat” balloon into the crowd. They listened to speech after speech from labor leaders and even one of the more than 30 Indiana Democrats who fled to Illinois last month.

“We are voters, we are veterans and we are taxpayers,” Nancy Guyott, president of the Indiana AFL-CIO, said. “In short, brothers and sisters, we are Indiana. It was our hands, our sweat, our tears, our toil that built this great state, and we’re not going to stand idly by while it’s under attack from outside forces.”

Indiana State Police estimated the size of the crowd at the rally to be about 8,000 people, well below the 25,000 or so predicted by the unions that organized it. But Jeff Harris, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO, disputed that count and said the crowd amounted to about 20,000 people. Harris said his union had 230 buses carrying 40 people each to Indianapolis, meaning at least 9,200 people were there.

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/4240131-537/union-members-protest-gop-bills-cite-threat-to-middle-class.html

I think our bus had over 40 maybe 45 on it.

Those that live in Marion county and the surrounding doughnut counties would more likely drive their own vehicle.