May Day marches — a strong show of unity

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Millions of people around the world took part in day of working-class protest is rooted in U.S. workers’ actions in the 1880s to demand better working condi­ tions, including the eight-hour day.

For the last decade, the date has been reclaimed in the United States by organizations standing up for the rights of immigrants and low-wage workers. This May Day, in a broad show of solidarity, they were joined by marchers with signs highlighting scores of burning is­ sues—such as affordable health care, racist police vio­ lence against Black people, the rights of women and LGBTQ people, and environmental justice.

Chants of “No ban! No wall!” and “No human being is illegal!” alternated with “Black lives matter!” and “Workers united will never be defeated!”

“If the Trump administration has done something very well, it has united lots of communities who oth­ erwise would not be marching together,” Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesperson for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said on National Public Radio from Los Angeles.

May 1 demonstrations took place in at least U.S. 40 cities. Significant numbers marched in the streets— as many as 30,000 in Los Angeles and almost 10,000 in Chicago—though the turnout in some cities was smaller than in previous years and failed to meet the expectations of organizers.

In many areas, workers observed a “Day Without Immigrants.” Grassroots activists affiliated with Mov­ imiento Cosecha and other groups organized immi­ grant workers in over 50 cities, plus rural farmwork­ ers, to demonstrate their power as a class by refusing to work or to shop for the day. Cosecha projected that hundreds of thousands of workers would observe their strike call. The actions were endorsed by “partners” in the labor movement such as SEIU, CWA, UNITE HERE, National Nurses United, and Fight for 15.

Some business owners closed their doors to enable workers to attend the protests. But without protec­ tion by the unions, some courageous workers who stayed away from work will likely be forced to endure hard personal consequences. Reportedly, over 100 workers were fired following the previous Day With­ out Immigrants, on Feb. 16. About 20 women, former employees of EZ Industrial Solutions in Michigan, are protesting their February dismissal in a case before the National Labor Review Board.

The May Day protests gained momentum and pur­ pose this year due to Trump’s racist diatribes against Latino and Muslim immigrants, and the accelerated drive by his administration to ban, detain, and deport them. Reports have noted, however, that many immi­ grants—terrorized by the government roundups— were probably afraid to march openly in the streets.

Trump has pledged to deport at least 3 million im­ migrants— more than a quarter of the people living in the U.S. without valid documents. That would far surpass the already record-setting quantity of depor­ tations under the Obama administration. Not only JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Rise up New York! coali­ tion targeted the banks because of their dealings with companies that have built or manage immigrant de­ tention centers.

Thousands more took part in separate rallies in Washington Square and Union Square, and many of the marchers later converged in Foley Plaza, where Mayor Bill de Blasio and a series of Democratic Party politicians and union officials addressed them.

In San Francisco, over 5000 marched up Market Street behind a papier-maché Statue of Liberty. Oak­ land held several marches and rallies, including a spirited gathering of about 3000 in the heavily Latino Fruitvale Avenue neighborhood.

In Philadelphia, several labor and immigrant groups marched through different parts of the city, and then came together at City Hall. The combined demonstra­ tion grew to over 2000 participants. The marchers in­ cluded members of UNITE HERE, who earlier in the day had staged a rally at Philadelphia International Airport to protest substandard wages and working conditions.

A number of teachers also joined the march. About 1000 teachers did not report for work that day, many of them taking part in a non-sanctioned protest ac­ tion called by the Working Educators caucus of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT). They were calling attention to the fact that public school teachers have been working without a contract for nearly four years, and have not had a raise for five years. The PFT called its own rally later in the afternoon.

In Minneapolis, Workday Minnesota reports that May 1 events began with a strike and rally by cleaners at a Home Depot store. The strikers are members of Cen­ tro de Trabajadores de Lucha/Center of Workers Unit­ ed in Struggle. “We’re fighting for fair wages, benefits, and the right to form a union without fear of retali­ ation,” said Elizabeth Mejia Campillo, a CTUL leader.

At noon, University of Minnesota workers held a ral­ ly to kick off their campaign for fair contracts covering 4000 clerical, technical, health care, food service, jani­ torial and other employees. Later in the afternoon, the “Resist From Day One Coalition” marched to Federal Plaza in downtown Minneapolis. n

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demonstrations on May Day. Actions included a gen­ eral strike and mass march, backed by the major unions, to protest government austerity measures in Puerto Rico. This followed a huge general strike in Brazil two days earlier. The May 1 international