New Orleans: Demand City Return Killed Hard Rock Workers to Their Families Before Demolition

Five months have gone by and the Hard Rock building still stands as a testimony to the murderous greed of the developer group 1031 Canal Development, LLC and the criminal indifference of the city. For killing three workers, causing injuries to 18 workers and lost wages for hundreds more, and for disrupting bus service on 21 lines, the developers have yet to be charged with any crime. Nor have they paid a dime for the havoc their greed and negligence has caused.

Worse, five months have gone by and the remains of two of the workers killed in the disaster, Quinnyon Wimberley and Jose Ponce Arreola, have yet to be removed from the rubble. Their families have been denied the basic dignity of a proper burial while the city claims to have already spent more $12 million to deal with the fallout from the collapse. New Orleans residents deserve a full accounting of this figure. How much of this money could have been spent hiring a crew that specializes in excavating human remains from buildings damaged by earthquakes or bombings?

Now, against the wishes of the mourning families, Mayor Cantrell has ordered the building to be demolished with the bodies of the killed workers inside. This outrage cannot stand. The city estimates that the demolition and recovery will cost an additional $11 million at least. This money should go towards the safe removal of the killed workers before the building is imploded. The families of Quinnyon Wimberley and Jose Ponce Arreola deserve respect!

Workers Voice Socialist Movement

We are workers, employed and unemployed, youth, students, and seniors. We are multi-racial and multi-national and organize for the unity of the working class. We are funded by and for workers, for the liberation of all workers and oppressed people.

We organize for jobs and higher wages, against racism, women’s, and LGBTQ oppression, and for solidarity with immigrants. We organize for community schools, lower rents, and food on our tables. We organize for workers’ power so that everything will one day be removed from the capitalists’ private ownership.

We oppose the Pentagon, which is looting our tax dollars and handing them over to war-profiteering private companies, while social programs are gutted. We oppose war for empire which is pursued only to lower our wages and plunder the world’s resources while destroying the environment. We reject the monopoly media who feed us lie after lie.

The labor of workers produces enormous wealth here in Louisiana, the U.S. and the world– so much wealth that everyone could have housing, meaningful jobs, education, healthcare, and genuine equality. But this wealth is stolen and privately owned by the capitalist class for their greed and profit. We believe that we, the workers of the world, can unite in revolution to overcome capitalism and build a better world.

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