Labor, Immigrant and Allied Groups Announce 50,000-Person NYC Mobilization on May 1st, May Day
Today, a coalition of labor, immigrant rights and allied groups joined together to announce plans for a 50,000 person strong May Day rally in New York on May 1st at Foley Square.
Operating under the banner “Rise Up New York! Immigrant rights and worker rights!” this year’s May Day celebration will bring New Yorkers from across the city to stand together and resist the policies of the Trump Administration. The celebration and rally will start at 5:00 p.m. at Foley Square and feature musical performers who represent the diverse communities of New York City and people directly impacted by Trump’s bigoted anti-immigrant and anti-worker policies.
Additionally, throughout the day, events will be happening across the city and statewide, including protests, know your rights trainings, and teach-ins.
The New York May Day coalition consists of immigrant rights groups, labor, faith and allied organizations (full list below) coming together to say in one voice: we stand together and we resist together. We will demand that President Trump end his attacks on our immigrant, refugees and Muslim communities. We will demand good jobs and the right to organize. We will demand Congress pass a federal budget that reflects our priorities, that doesn’t include a single dollar for a border wall or unjust immigration enforcement.
Steve Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, commented, “This May 1st, May Day, the New York Immigration Coalition is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with organized labor, immigrant rights groups and other allies in the fight for immigrant rights and worker rights. We call on all New Yorkers to rise up and demand an end to this Administration’s racist and unjust policies and for Congress to reject any funding to build a border wall or hire immigration enforcement officers to terrorize our communities. Join us on May Day and Rise Up New York!”
Yatziri Tovar, a member of Make the Road New York and a DREAMer with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, said, “This May Day rally is important now more than ever. At a moment when families of Dreamers like me are being unjustly targeted and criminalized, and when workers’ rights are under attack, we must continue to send a strong message of resistance. We will stand and resist together against Trump’s agenda of hate and against all the big corporations who seek to profit from the policies Trump wants to advance. We demand respect and dignity, and On May 1st we will be united showing fierce opposition to bigotry and demonstrating that New Yorkers stand united for a better future for all of us.”
Héctor Figueroa, President SEIU 32BJ, said, “As one of the largest unions in the country representing immigrant workers, we believe that workers’ rights and immigrant rights go hand in hand, and we will continue to put our resources into defending both. The Trump administration’s systematic attempt to criminalize immigrants is not only an assault on the civil rights of communities of color but a dangerous path that is already having dramatic consequences in communities across the country as hate crimes against immigrants and those perceived to be foreign continue to spread. These attacks are one element in a nationalist effort to marginalize non-Christian, non-white Americans under the false guise of security and economic growth. Today, we come together because our duty as a union representing immigrant and US-born workers is to unite our voices and demand that our country stays true to our core values as a nation of immigrants. We will work to expose this vicious agenda and fight on behalf of people of color and immigrant communities across the country.”
Sean Campbell, President, Teamsters Local 813, said, “On May Day, the Teamsters are rising up with our brothers and sisters in the labor movement and the immigrant rights movement because working people are under attack. The president and Congress are already rolling back the most basic protections for workers. We won’t be divided and we won’t be conquered.”
Pat Kane, RN, Treasurer, New York State Nurses Association, said, “As nurses, we want to acknowledge the immigrant nurses in our ranks from many parts of the world, such as Haiti and the Philippines. They are incredibly devoted, hard working professionals, without whom our hospitals, public and private, would be much lesser places. The discrimination — witch hunting of immigrants, some are expelled from the US for nothing more than the most minor legal infractions — taking them away from jobs and family, is a national disgrace. As healthcare professionals we call upon our federal government to cease this practice. It does harm to our society, sends a shudder of fear and anxiety everywhere, and creates an environment of fear that is contrary to the protection of the public’s health.”
