FOG BLOG NB NEWS LOG: CUPE STRIKE DAY 5 PROTESTERS MARCH TO LEGISLATURE , HUNDREDS PROTEST IN SJ!

Thousands march to legislature in massive protest on Day 5 of CUPE strike........Public-sector workers, supporters from across Canada gather outside as legislature resumes.....Thousands of striking government employees and supporters marched down King Street to the New Brunswick Legislature on Tuesday in one of the largest demonstrations ever held in Fredericton.

Busloads of participants arrived from across the country to join the demonstration, held on Day 5 of a strike by 22,000 provincial employees who are members of Canadian Union of Public Employees.

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CUPE leaders and workers from across Canada showed up in support of the New Brunswick workers.

Police estimated that about 4,000 participants were at the demonstration, which filled the lawn of the legislature and spilled onto the sidewalks. Noise from the gathering could be heard blocks away.

As the provincial government resumed a session that had been adjourned in June, protesters chanted and blew noisemakers, and CUPE leaders gave speeches on the lawn of the legislature.

While police officers directed traffic that slowed to a crawl, demonstrators set up dozens of empty tables, signalling they were ready to get back to the bargaining table.