MARCH FOR FREEDOM participants carry signs and the U.S. flag along Stephenson Avenue in Iron Mountain on Saturday. Dickinson County Democrats also plan a march in recognition of International Workers Day on Saturday, May 3. (Courtesy photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — The Dickinson County Democratic Party, in conjunction with 50501 Michigan, will host a march on Saturday, May 3, in recognition of International Workers Day.

Participants will meet behind Iron Mountain City Hall at 1 p.m. and walk to Dickinson County Courthouse and back, said Mari Negro, party chair. A number of union leaders have been asked to speak.

According to its Facebook page, 50501 Michigan is a group dedicated to mobilizing citizens to take action on political and humanitarian issues.

The planned May 3 march in Iron Mountain follows a rally held Saturday in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord — the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.

More than 300 people attended the March for Freedom, said Dickinson County Democratic Party officials.

Guest speakers included former state Rep. Jenn Hill of Marquette; Wyatt Gibler, union steward of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2280; and former North Dickinson Schools teacher Lynne Wilson.

“I’m grateful to join a rally to support our veterans and the VA workers against cuts to their benefits and care,” said Hill. “On the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, we come together as Americans to celebrate the values that 80 brave patriots stood for against hundreds of a tyrant king’s soldiers,” she said.

“I’m not speaking to you as a party member or as a running politician. I’m speaking to you as a federal worker, a union steward, a lifelong Yooper, and someone who believes that when we fight for our jobs and our veterans — we are doing something that’s right,” Gibler said. “I want to talk about what’s at stake — not in Washington but right here in Iron Mountain. Right now, executive actions are underway that threaten to eliminate the rights of federal workers to union representation and reduce the size of the federal workforce significantly. For folks in big cities or outside the federal system, that might not sound like much. But here in Iron Mountain, where the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center is one of the largest employers and the backbone of our region, this is nothing short of devastating,” Gibler told protesters Saturday.