Posted on 04/29/2024
ONE BIG THING: MAY DAY IN LA & AROUND THE WORLD
What is International Workers Day?
Also known as May Day or Labour Day in some countries, International Workers’ Day is a global celebration of the working class and labor movement, which occurs every year on May 1st.
Since 1890, workers and labor groups have taken to the streets on the first of May – a date chosen to commemorate the Haymarket affair, in which protests for an eight hour work day came to a tragic and bloody end when an unidentified person threw a bomb into the crowd and police fired indiscriminately on the striking workers.
It is now a national public holiday in many countries, and each year, workers of all backgrounds join together to march for our rights and collective power.
May Day in LA
Los Angeles has a particularly special relationship with May Day. In addition to celebrating the day’s ties to labor, in LA, May Day has become an important day for immigrant rights groups.
As far back as the early 2000s, groups like the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Korean Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), and others began coming together in a multiracial working class coalition to advocate for both immigrants and workers.
On May 1st, 2006, as punitive immigration laws were debated in Congress, massive protests for immigrant rights erupted right here in Los Angeles. These “A Day Without Immigrants” demonstrations helped forge strong and lasting bonds between immigrant and labor groups in our city.
Since then, the streets of Los Angeles have been home to massive protests every year on the first of May, in solidarity with workers, immigrants, labor groups, and working class people everywhere.
Solidarity is Power: The People United
This year’s May Day March in Los Angeles will be taking place right in the heart of Hollywood in District 13!
Hollywood is known around the globe, but far too often, the workers, the immigrants, and the labor unions that keep Hollywood running go overlooked.
That’s why this May 1st, we’ll be joining the May Day Coalition as we march for better wages, affordable housing, a path to citizenship, the right to strike, and more!
Join us at 2pm for a rally at 6100 W Sunset Blvd, then head out and march at 3pm.
Two More Quick Hits!
1. Protecting Workers from Unjust Criminalization
In last week’s newsletter, we looked at how the City of LA currently arrests hundreds of workers every year for working in unlicensed dispensaries even though they thought they were just working a perfectly legal retail job.
We’re excited to report that our motion that will put an end to this unjust practice passed through City Council this week! That means the City Attorney will now make amendments to the ordinance (essentially the actual law), and then it will come back to council for approval one final time.
2. Analyzing All of LA’s Fines and Fees
Our motion protecting workers from being unfairly targeted is a reminder that we should constantly be searching for unjust practices and systemic racism baked into our laws.
That’s why this week, council approved our motion with Councilmembers Hutt and Harris-Dawson that will investigate the impact of fines and fees in our city to see if they place an unnecessary burden on poor and working class Angelenos.
That report will take multiple months to come back to City Council – so stay tuned for updates!