The labor movement is calling on lawmakers to protect workers.The Nebraska American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations organized a "workers first" caravan Wednesday night.Volunteers taped signs on car windows outside the Lincoln labor union hall before setting out to send a message.Dozens of drivers departed asking those in power to act.“It’s time that we stand up as workers and say, ‘No mas!’” said Shira Mora James, a civil rights attorney and volunteer.The National AFL-CIO declared June 17 a day of action to address workers’ rights."We're going through a national health crisis, an economic downfall and we're dealing with longtime structural racism,” Susan Martin, Nebraska’s AFL-CIO president said.“And we have a chance to examine those things right now. We need to make those reforms and it needs to come from our elected officials.”They want senators to pass the HEROES Act; a federal bill which would help local governments, schools, and the postal service and their pensions.They have five areas they want addressed: “Keep front-line workers safe. Keep workers employed and protect earned pension checks. Keep state and local governments, public schools and the U.S. Postal Service solvent and working. Keep America Healthy, protect and expand health insurance and sick pay for all workers, and Keep America competitive; hire people to build infrastructure,” Martin said.Plus, they want Capitol Hill to help the meatpacking plants."We're urging Congress to pass an emergency OSHA standard to make sure these facilities are really taking care of their employees,” Martin said.They took their message to Nebraska’s Capitol and past the governor's mansion. They want Pete Ricketts to require plants to release their COVID-19 numbers, and to come up with a better plan to protect workers.“Numbers continue to spike in our meatpacking plants,” said Denise Bowyer, a caravan volunteer."When you’re not protecting the meatpacking plant workers, you're not protecting their children, you're not protecting the community they live in, you're not protecting Nebraskans!" Mora James said.The caravan passed U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse and U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer's offices. They’re asking for safety for those feeding America.“They feed our families and yet they're so expendable in terms of the companies and the government’s viewpoint,” Bowyer said.