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Rev. Jesse Jackson Pickets With Striking Philadelphia Area Red Cross Workers

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Rev. Jesse Jackson joined striking Red Cross blood service workers on the picket line this morning in Philadelphia.

Jackson's appearance comes as the blood service workers mark their first full week on the picket line (see related stories). Jackson says this Red Cross strike is a reflection of what's happening across the country.

"Workers are under attack," he told KYW Newsradio.   "We have radical concentrations of wealth up top.  We have, now, a thousand billionaires.  More wars, and yet workers are shrinking and poverty is expanding."

Philadelphia is the first stop on what's  billed as a "solidarity tour" by Jackson.

Bob Master, of the Communications Workers of America, which represents the Red Cross workers, says Jackson will also appear in Camden, Jersey City, and Newark, NJ.

"CWA happens to be the  largest public employee union in New Jersey, and we're in a fight for our right to bargain over health care with Governor Christie, who has refused to bargain in good faith over health care for 40,000 state workers," Master says.

Reported by Paul Kurtz, KYW Newsradio 1060

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