OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Hundreds of labor union members and their supporters rallied outside the Oklahoma Capitol on Monday, urging lawmakers to defeat legislation that they claim is anti-union and would weaken bargaining and employment rights for public employees.

Chanting "union power" and "workers unite," about 400 members of various unions gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., who was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn.

Speakers invoked the memory of King's life and work as they spoke to the crowd and asked lawmakers to reject measures that would impact state worker pensions and the collective bargaining rights of some municipal workers. Jimmy Curry, president of the Oklahoma AFL-CIO, said similar rallies were held in all 50 states and some foreign countries.