May Day protest against cuts at SFSU

SAN FRANCISCO--Over 600 students at San Francisco State University (SFSU) walked out on May 1 against the proposed budget cuts expected to be passed this month.

Organizers in the Fight the Fees campaign chose May 1 in an effort to link the movement to stop the cuts with the struggles of the working and immigrant communities--to show that an injury to one is indeed an injury to all.

Student speakers talked about the power of organizing and the need to defend undocumented workers, and when it was announced that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union shut down the West Coast ports in protest of the war, the crowd roared.

As the students rallied around the campus, classrooms could hear shouts of, "Walkout SF State! Shut it down like '68!" In 1968, San Francisco State was the center of a long student strike that brought the first College of Ethnic Studies.

When the march reached the top of campus, the crowd began to chant "Si se puede," as the students prepared to travel to Dolores Park to meet up with the immigrant rights rally. On the way to the Muni, students blocked the busy intersection of 19th Avenue for over half an hour. Police stopped one of the trains filled with protesters, but that did not stop the enthusiasm. Protesters continued on and marched to the next station.

The fight against the budget cuts is heating up. At a rally in Sacramento on April 21, buses filled with students from SFSU and City College of San Francisco made up the largest student contingent.

Activists can build on this momentum to wage a serious challenge to the California budget cuts. A student strike may be on the way.