By Brian Denitzio
Reporter Staff

Socialist Workers Party candidate, Laura Garza says that she's pursuing an at-large bid for the city council to fill a void on the body.

"It's one place where there's a lack of representation for a working class voice," says Garza.

Fresh from a downtown protest in support of garment workers' rights, the 46-year old sewing machine operator from East Boston discussed her candidacy and the Socialist Workers Party platform upon which it is built. The party's campaign literature list 13 points that it stands for including expansion and increased power for trade unions, immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East, and opposition to a national ID card.

Garza ran for an at-large seat in 2003, but failed to garner enough votes to reach the finals. She hopes that given the events that have transpired since the last election, her platform will find greater traction among the city's electorate. She points to the war in Iraq and increased pressures on the city's working families as reasons why she's hopeful this go around.

"The crisis and the war drive have all accelerated," says Garza.

The crisis, Garza says, is due to years of stagnant wages and declining working conditions. She believes that voters need more of a choice than simply choosing between "two big business, pro-war parties."

"More people are open to our ideas," says Garza. "But it's going to take a serious effort on our part."

Garza recognizes the obstacle she faces in competing with better-funded, better-known, and better-connected challengers, but believes that there is value in running and shining a light on the plight of the working class.

"These campaigns do offer an opportunity so that there can be a working class voice," says Garza.

Still, Garza also believes that the problems facing the city's working class go far beyond what can be accomplished through elections alone.

"Our arena to accomplish something can't be the election of one particular candidate, we really accomplish something through the independent organization of the working class," says Garza.

Other important issues driving Garza's campaign include creating more jobs and equal access to those jobs.

Garza also opposes the Boston University Bioterrorism Lab proposed for construction in the South End.

"I believe it's important for the light to be shown on this thing and for there to be a discussion about what they're going to be doing in that lab and why," says Garza, who believes that the "bio weapons lab" will be used to create offensive, biological weapons for use by the United States military.

She also believes that the attention given to youth violence in the city is used to distract residents from other problems facing the city.

"I think a lot of this stuff has been greatly exaggerated and I think it's being used by some politicians to slough off social problems on the backs of a few youth," says Garza.

This position sets her apart from many of the at-large contenders who believe that escalating youth violence is one of the biggest issues facing the city. However this isn't the only issue on which Garza strays from the field, and certainly not the biggest. While some candidates promise reform, Garza believes that wholesale change is the only way to save the city and the country.

"The biggest difference between me and the other candidates is that I don't think this system can be reformed," says Garza.