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Last night, thousands of union members marched from the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to Lawyer’s Mall in front of the Maryland State House to protest proposed changes to their pensions. The march kicked off at 6:00pm and the crowds just flowed into Lawyer’s Mall until it spilled out onto College Avenue and Rowe Boulevard. While teachers and municipal workers made up the vast majority, they were joined in solidarity by many other union members including electricians and plumbers.
Rally organizers have claimed a crowd of 15,000. Annapolis City was expecting 5,000. According to a General Service police officer who was estimating the crowd, the actual number was about 7,500.
The rally was dwarfed by several dozen counter protesters who taunted the crowd with chants of “oink, oink” and with signs in support of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
In a surprise move, Maryland Governor, Martin O’Malley addressed the conflicted crowd who was there to protest his budget. O’Malley said, “I don’t like this budget either.” But he went on to highlight his support of the unions and made it clear that Maryland was not like Wisconsin or Ohio.
Eye On Annpolis was able to take some video of the crowds pouring down Rowe Boulevard from the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
