Rally participants, led by (l. to r.) Pat O’Brien Townsend of the Montana Nurses Association; Jamie Cross, event organizer; and Janette May (and pup Gertie), cancer survivor, begin the mile-long march to the picket line.
NEAR THE END of the lockout, Local D239 hosted a “Breast Cancer + Health Care Awareness Rally and March,” using the lockout’s attention, timed with October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, as a way to raise awareness and share resources. Open to the community, the goal of the event was to draw attention to the importance of employer support and health coverage for those who fight cancer and other serious illnesses.
“What we’re going through with the lock-out doesn’t compare to what a person fighting cancer or another serious illness faces,” L-D239 president Randy Tocci told the small-but-passionate group gathered for the October 27 rally at the Frontier Club in downtown Three Forks.
After hearing from several speakers, including a representative from the Montana Nurses Association and a cancer survivor, rally participants took up signs and marched nearly a mile to the Imerys picket line. Participants received information sheets listing local resources offering low-cost or free preventive and treatment services. Tocci’s wife, Jamie Cross, who headed the event, said she hopes to replicate the rally and walk and possibly make it an annual event.
