People of faith, union members, neighbors, and Walker Methodist residents will hold a ?Witness for Workers Rights? Wednesday, July 16, at the Walker Methodist Health Center.

Participants will assemble at 2 p.m. at Lyndale Farm Park, 38th Street & Bryant Ave., in south Minneapolis, and then proceed to Walker Methodist Health Center.

Walker Methodist employees voted in late May to join AFSCME Council 14, but the nursing home management has refused to recognize the union. AFSCME said management has targeted pro-union employees for discipline and discharge.

The demonstration, sponsored by the Twin Cities Religion and Labor Network and AFSCME Council 14, will ask Walker Methodist Health Center to respect the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church and to stop violating the rights of employees.

Paragraph 163 of the Social Priniciples of the United Methodist Church states, ?We support the right of public and private employees and employers to organize for collective bargaining into unions and other groups of their own choosing.?

The church?s Resolution on the Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively says, ?The United Methodist Church urges all employers to allow their employees to freely choose whether to unionize or not, without intimidation or coercion.?

Related article
Walker Methodist Health Center employees vote for AFSCME