May Day rallies held across SoCal to fight for worker and immigrant rights

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Dozens of people throughout Southern California participated in several rallies to mark International Workers' Day on Monday.

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 L.A. invited people to join the "Solidarity in Power" march and rally Monday evening.

The Los Angeles May Day coalition has planned the march to honor both immigrants and workers. They marched for the right to get citizenship, unionize, to strike and to get affordable housing.

The march and rally is also one of the first events for workers and immigrants in person since the pandemic.

"Forty years waiting for immigration reform. Promises and promises from one administration and then the other," said Jubenal Estrada, an activist. "The people in the shadows are suffering. Being deported with no rights. In this pandemic, there was a lot of workers that actually died for this country. Feeding us, but they are still in the shadows."

There were also rallies held at university campuses, including Cal State Los Angeles. One of the demands , as in years past, is for better wages. As the Los Angeles Unified School District and the teachers and employees unions continue to work out new contracts for higher wages, there's still much to do, according to rally organizers.

"There's so many struggles from fast food workers to our CFA, California Faculty Association, to the recent UTLA and SEIU strikes where educators are still fighting for the right to just have a living wage," said Felicia Montes, a Southern California professor.

A march was also held in Riverside, where more than 30 Inland Empire organizations got together to support in solidarity the working-class and immigrants who they feel need more economic benefits and rights.