Hundreds of members of SEIU Local 1021 blocked Market Street tonight at the peak of rush hour, protesting San Francisco Mayor Newsom's plan to eliminate more city jobs. The protest shut down automobile traffic and Muni lines were forced to make detours. Eighteen people were arrested by SFPD.

At a rally in Civic Center, with the brightly lit City Hall looming behind them, demonstrators said that school district employees may lose their jobs just as the winter holidays are upon them. Certified nurses who work for the city said that their jobs are being reclassified to lower paying positions and even those who keep their jobs will be forced to take pay cuts. Speakers from atop a hastily constructed stage said they want the mayor to save their jobs with federal stimulus funds expected in April.

Carlos Rivera of SEIU Local 1021 said, "Mayor Newsom has decided to do 500 layoffs and wage cuts to women and people of color...when that happens you have to stand up and fight back, that's what Martin Luther King did, that's what Rosa Parks did."

Participants included an admin at San Francisco City College, who supports the Gender Studies Department. She marched alongside a school district health care worker. The Raging Grannies, many of whom are former teachers and nurses, helped lead chanting in front of City Hall as marchers headed to Market and 9th Street for the massive middle-of-the-street demonstration. Civic Center was filled with loud voices of encouragement for those about to commit civil disobedience with their chant: "When they say go away, you say No WAY!"