Under the motto “Solidarity is Power. The United People”, workers, immigrants, students, educators, parents, activists and people of faith, will march this May Day.
The main difference this year in commemorating International Labor Day is that the May Day Parade will be in Hollywood, and not in downtown Los Angeles.
“This year, the coalition decided to highlight local, regional, national, and international issues. The local issue is the fight for fair wages for workers, especially those who belong to unions,” said Jorge Mario Cabrera, spokesperson for the Coalition for Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), an organization that is part of the Coalition First of Mayo, organizer of the Los Angeles May Day Parade.
But he also said that at the regional level they will march for housing because it is a humanitarian challenge that needs to be resolved.
“At the national level, we have not recognized the undocumented immigrant community in almost 40 years and with a change to the Registration Law, almost 8 million people could be legalized.”
He added that at the international level, there is concern about the loss of life, the destruction of entire communities, and the forced migration caused by armed conflicts.
“We will be present on May Day to enhance humanity, dignity, labor rights, and peace.”
The march, which will begin at two in the afternoon in Hollywood, is expected to be a powerful demonstration demanding better wages, housing for all, a path to citizenship for immigrants, the right to strike, a stop to fire in Gaza and the end of wars.
The first program and rally will begin at 2:15 pm at the corner of Sunset and Bower; The march will head north on Gower and turn left onto Hollywood Boulevard.
The march will end with a second demonstration on Hollywood and Highland streets.
Before joining the march, janitors grouped in the SEIU-USWW union will attend the recognition that will be held for International Labor Day at the Los Angeles City Council.
The janitors, who are mostly immigrant women, are fighting abusive workloads and an industry that exploits and abuses them based on their status.
A recent study by the California Department of Industrial Relations highlights the brutal conditions janitors face on the job, including the fact that approximately one-third of janitors in California were injured on the job last year.
The janitors are currently in contract negotiations with California’s largest janitorial employer.
March for immigration reform
In Santa Ana, starting at 10 in the morning, a march will take place from the Mexican Consulate in that city, in protest against the actions of the Orange County Sheriff against immigrants.
“Our plan is to start meeting at 11 in the morning to start at 12:00 pm; and this year we chose to march in Santa Ana to demonstrate against the Orange County sheriffs who do not respect the Sanctuary Law and have continued to arrest immigrants under any excuse and hand them over to Immigration,” said Juan José Gutiérrez, leader of the Coalition for Full Rights. for Immigrants, one of the organizations participating in the May Day parade in Santa Ana.
He added that this year they decided not to do the march in Los Angeles, and go to Santa Ana to support their colleagues from that city, who asked them for reinforcements in the face of the situation of abuse, racism and human rights violations that immigrants experience.
“We are going on this May Day to denounce the illegal practices of the Orange County Sheriff; and to raise our demand for immigration reform.”
He said that next year, more united than ever, they will return to march in the Los Angeles metropolitan area on May Day.
The meeting place in Santa Ana starting at 11 in the morning will be at 2100 E 4th street. Santa Ana, 92705. They will end at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building located at 411 w. 4th street of Santa Ana.
They move forward
In celebration of May Day on April 28, more than one hundred farmworkers held a rally and march to launch a new living wage campaign in Santa Barbara County.
“Nearly 200 farmworkers participated due to the continued and increasing difficulty they face paying for housing, child care, health care and food, despite the essential work they do across the Central Coast, the state and the nation,” said Hazel Davalos, co-executive director of the organization Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE).
He added that even when they perform physically strenuous work to support an essential part of the local economy, those who work in the fields receive low wages, denying their families the ability to live with dignity.
“It is time for these same workers to be treated as essential and receive wages that respect the sacrifice, health risks and hours farmworkers endure.”