Protesting unionists marched Sunday in the nation's Capitol, blasting George W. Bush's war in Iraq--and the AFL-CIO for inaction on the issue.

Organizers said the event, dubbed the "Million Worker March," drew at least 10,000 people to the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. They said numbers were held down when as police diverted dozens out-of-town buses to faraway parking lots on the other side of D.C.

"This is unique because it's a rank-and-file march. Though there are members of the AFL-CIO here, the AFL-CIO has not contributed one dime to this--because all of their money is going to the Democrats," said the march's leader, former ILWU Local 10 Secretary-Treasurer Clarence Thomas.

Thomas, activist Dick Gregory, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and unionists from both Carolinas, New York, Texas and elsewhere blasted Bush while looking out on a sea of waving signs criticizing the war in Iraq.

But as Thomas' remarks indicated, they were also unhappy with the Democrats--who marchers say also support the war--and with the AFL-CIO. The federation did not support the march because it made ousting Bush and electing pro-worker officials on Nov. 2 its top priority.

"We must go beyond this so that we have something more of than a choice between Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedledumber," one speaker said of the two parties.

"In Seattle, workers have suffered severe losses at the hands of the Democratic Party--who call themselves the workers' friends while serving the interests of Boeing and Microsoft," said IBEW member Heidi Durham. "The (Washington) state legislature, with almost equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, refused to implement voter initiatives, and refused--with cooperation from the 'good old boys' of the labor movement--to reinstate affirmative action," she added.

While workers' issues were most of the 22 points that march organizers put in their written platform, many went unmentioned from the podium.

The right to organize never came up, raising the minimum wage was mentioned once, and only the North Carolinians --who are waging an organizing drive--talked about right-to-work-for-less laws. They advocated repealing the GOP-passed 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which permits such laws.

Besides the war and affirmative action, other causes speakers pushed included ending the blockade of Cuba, reparations for African-Americans and universal health care.

The signs broadcast similar messages, mostly blasting the war. Among them were a handwritten sign that said "9-11? Cheney did it," of the GOP vice presidential nominee. Others said: "Union jobs and health care, not war" "Bring our babies home now" "Stop Bush's Iraqi horror show" and "Liar liar pants on fire burning Bush."

But some signs and speakers dealt with workers' issues, or called for beating Bush on Election Day.

"Let's make sure we send this idiot back to his village in Texas on Nov. 2," declared Brenda Stokeley of AFSCME Local 1707, referring to Bush.

A representative from the Oakland Education Association criticized Bush's education law, the No Child Left Behind bill, as a law that "guarantees that after four years of failure, schools must be turned over to corporations." That would put $393 billion in company pockets, he said. He noted Bush pushed the law and Sen. John F. Kerry, the Democratic nominee, voted for it.

South Carolina Federation of Labor President Donna DeWitt--the only state fed leader to speak--said: "To those with a message of greed, we will not let your message of hate stop us. We made this country, we built it. And on Nov. 2, 2004, we will vote for the American dream."

Still others chastised the AFL-CIO for its lack of activism in the anti-war movement.

"We have to realize we have opponents within the AFL-CIO," declared Earl Silbar of AFSCME Local 3506 in Chicago. "We have to take this" momentum "back to the grass roots."

"We are also here to tell labor officials who are more concerned about who sits in the Oval Office that we will not take it any more," added Durham. "Now it's time to shake the House of Labor, rock the House of Labor, no matter who wins--Democrat or Republican."

Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.