LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Thousands of workers and activists rallied in the Westlake District then embarked on a march to Los Angeles City Hall Friday for May Day, with organizers also calling for a broader “economic blackout” urging people to skip work, school and shopping.
The main gathering began at 10 a.m. Friday at MacArthur Park, where tens of thousands of people gathered in a boisterous rally, chanting slogans and waving signs in support of workers and immigrants.
“We are here to say loudly and clearly that we are not afraid,” David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International-United Service Workers West union, told the crowd at the MacArthur Park rally. “We will not be silenced. We must keep fighting against the authoritarian in the White House, and stand up against the corporations and their greed.
“… I believe in you, I believe in us and our ability to fight for change. I believe because i know you are hungry for a better future. We embrace everyone struggling to survive and raise our collective fists at injustice. … We are the beautiful voices who cry out for justice, voices that together cannot be ignored.”
Labor and immigrant rights groups said the demonstrations were part of International Workers’ Day, with events planned across California calling for expanded worker protections and immigration reforms.
“Our vision includes an economy that works for everyone with a living wage, strong labor protections and programs that keep families housed, fed, educated and healthy,” Francisco Moreno, executive director of the Council of Mexican Federations in North America, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Organizers said the Los Angeles event carries the theme “Solo el pueblo shuts it down: no school, no work, no shopping,” reflecting calls for an economic boycott modeled after similar protests earlier this year.
Participants included janitors, security officers, airport workers and stadium employees affiliated with SEIU-United Service Workers West, along with a coalition of labor unions, civil rights organizations, immigrant advocacy groups and faith leaders.
After the rally, the massive crowd set out on a march into downtown Los Angeles, walking roughly three miles to Grand Park across from City Hall.
MacArthur Park has been a focal point for day laborers and street vendors, and organizers said recent immigration enforcement activity in the area has added to challenges faced by those workers.
“Starting there really sends a message that we’re here,” Kristal Romero, press secretary for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, told LAist. “We’re standing with this community, and if you take on one of us, you take on all of us.”
Organizers said the demonstrators are calling for a pathway to citizenship, increased funding for education and health care, and an end to additional funding for federal immigration enforcement agencies.
International Workers’ Day is recognized in many countries around the world, with its origins dating back to the 1880s and initially supporting the establishment of an eight-hour work day. In the United States, the May 1 date was chosen to commemorate a general strike that began on the date in 1886 and ended with the Haymarket affair of May 4, 1886, when a peaceful rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square in support of workers ended with an unknown person throwing a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the meeting. Eleven people were killed and nearly 200 others injured.
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