On March 19th, more than 1000 people reflecting the diversity of Tacoma came out for a march and rally demanding that money being poured into prolonging the war be shifted to cover basic needs including health care, living wage jobs, veterans benefits, education, housing and Gulf Coast relief and that the troops be brought home from Iraq. Speakers included Dexter B. Gordon, professor of African-American Studies at the University of Puget Sound; Jeannie Darnielle, State Legislator from the 27th District and Executive Director of the Pierce County AIDS Foundation; and Lietta Ruger, a woman who has two Iraq-war veterans in her family and who is a member of Military Families Speak Out. Over 150 of the marchers were in the JwJ labor and workers' rights contingent, including 40 who came from Seattle on a bus provided by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

The Tacoma rally reunited Department of Defense workers and faith-based peace activists who had joined together in a rally last year at Ft. Lewis to protest the use of the war as an excuse and cover for attacks on federal workers, particularly those in the Department of Defense, facing the anti-union National Security Personnel System.  WSJwJ has made "worker organizing impacted by war" a top priority, and is working closely with federal workers represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to relate the war both to anti-union attacks and to cuts in funding for basic human needs.

Washington State JwJ joined a number of its member organizations in urging participation in the Tacoma rally, including Church Council of Greater Seattle; Fellowship of Reconiciliation of Tacoma; First United Methodist Church Micah Project; Pax Christi Tacoma; Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War; St. Leo's Peace & Justice Commission; and Tacoma Catholic Worker.  But importantly, it wasn't just peace and faith-based groups that turned out.  There were banners and signs from a number of unions, including Locals of AFGE, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).  Other unions with rank-and-file presence including the Musicians, IFPTE (representing Boeing engineers and technicians), Food & Commercial Workers, Operating Engineers, and State County & Muncipal Employees.  They were joined by contingents from a variety of faith communities, including Catholic, Methodist, Muslim, CME, Quaker, Unitarian and Buddhist; veterans and military families groups, led by Iraq Veterans Against the War; and community and political groups including Mothers for Police Accountability, America in Solidarity and the Labor Party.  WSJwJ's 2005 honorees were all present: members of the Legislative Labor Caucus, federal workers from the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration, and Catholic Workers.

JwJ circulated petitions that will be forwarded to South Sound members of Congress and the US Senators from Washington, making it clear that the working people of Washington want an end to the war and to attacks on workers, and a renewed commitment to the needs of working families.