DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Dozens of people across Southern California attended multiple rallies Monday to mark International Workers’ Day.
May Day events were held in downtown Los Angeles, Little Tokyo, and Boyle Heights, as well as throughout the Inland Empire.
The May Day Coalition in downtown LA invited people to join the “Solidarity in Power” march and rally Monday night.
The Los Angeles May Day Coalition planned the march to honor both immigrants and workers. They marched for the right to citizenship, unions, strikes and affordable housing.
The march and rally is also one of the first events for workers and immigrants in person since the pandemic.
“Forty Years of Waiting for Immigration Reform. Promises and promises from one government and then the other,” said Jubenal Estrada, an activist. “People in the shadows are suffering. Being deported without rights. In this pandemic, many workers died for this country. They feed us, but they are still in the shadows.”
There were also rallies on college campuses including Cal State Los Angeles. As in previous years, one of the demands is better wages. As the Los Angeles Unified School District and the teachers’ and employees’ unions continue to work out new deals for higher wages, there is still work to be done, according to rally organizers.
“There are so many struggles from fast food workers through our CFA, California Faculty Association, to the recent UTLA and SEIU strikes, where educators are still fighting for the right to a living wage,” Felicia Montes said , a professor from Southern California.
A march was also held in Riverside, where more than 30 Inland Empire organizations came together to show solidarity in support of the working class and immigrants who they say need more economic benefits and rights.