People Hit the Streets Nationwide for Labor Day—and It’s Giving Power to the People
This weekend, thousands of events hosted by the AFL-CIO and May Day Strong took place to stand for workers’ rights. People spoke, marched, and rallied for the working class in response to a second Trump administration. People across the country participated in a day of raising voices as a celebration of what makes Labor Day a day of remembrance. It is the latest in growing demonstrations against the current administration this year with more planned.
Union workers and supporters celebrated Labor Day protesting for American workers
People gathered across the country for “Workers Over Billionaires” demonstrations. The day of action included speeches, marches, picnics, and rallies all aimed at bringing people together for the American worker. The day is a reminder of the hard won protections, working conditions, and provisions.
“Everything we have ever won as workers in this country—every good contract, every raise, every protection on the job, every weekend we ever enjoyed,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said. “That wasn’t handed to us! We have that because we fought for it and won, didn’t we? So I need to know: Are y’all ready to fight? Are you ready to take on the greedy CEOs and the billionaires? Are you ready to stand up for the working people around you and your community and build the country that all workers deserve? Thank you so much and happy Labor Day!”
September’s day of action was a successful day, according to organizers. According to a press release from May Day Strong, this event brought out double the number of demonstrators compared to the May demonstrations. An estimated 500,000 people spent their Labor Day demonstrating against the Trump administration.
“Since May Day, we see the onslaught of attacks on our communities escalating, our organizing has to escalate with it,” Neidi Dominguez, the Executive Director of Organized Power in Numbers, said in a statement. We know that billionaires are making record profits while we are losing people every day. And we are facing the moment, through mobilizations, conversations, and training. There’s more of us than there are of them. We just have to organize ourselves together.”
The Trump administration is stripping employees of their union rights
Agencies in the federal government have been adapting the way they run to be in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders. There has been increasing backlash as federal workers have been laid off, pushed to resign, or lost protection. Recently, it was reported that almost 500,000 federal workers lost their union rights in August.
President Trump argued that some of the duties of those employees touched on national security matters. This justifies them losing the union rights contracts because they could interfere with carrying out policies.
“This is literally the largest act of union busting in American history,” Mike Podhorzer, a former political director of the AFL-CIO, told The New York Times. “There’s not another time when that many people lost their union.”
The struggle to uphold workers’ rights is ongoing in the courts. As with several initiatives under President Trump’s administration, legal challenges have emerged that complicate the implementation of its policies.
