May Day 2025: Thousands rally and march across Los Angeles streets for International Workers' Day
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Thousands of union members and immigrant-rights supporters flooded the streets of Southern California on Thursday to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day.
On this May Day, thousands of workers in Los Angeles and other major U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, are demanding living wages, a safe work environment, and protection of immigrants' rights.
A coalition of unions and other groups kicked off the day with a rally at 9 a.m. in downtown Los Angeles at Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street. The group of approximately 4,000 supporters then marched east on Olympic and north on Los Angeles Street, heading toward the Federal Building.
Thursday's march ended at the Federal Building on Los Angeles Street because that's where the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices are located. At last check, LAPD said no arrests were made at the march.
"This is our chance to stand up together, rise up and fight -- fight back for our rights, for our livelihood, for liberty and freedom," union member William Nagasaki said at the rally.
"No matter what creed, race, if you're making a good, honest living, you should be paid a good, honest, fair, livable wage," said marcher Ricardo Ordaz. "That's something where you don't have to ask for assistance over and over again. We just want to be treated like human beings. We give the best work possible. We give everything. We give blood, sweat, and tears, you know. We just want some respect."
The focus was on standing in solidarity with immigrant communities, while also condemning the Trump administration's actions impacting immigrants and working people.
"My two older siblings have DACA, and I feel like today is very important for them because I'm here to represent that they need their papers and need justice to work here, and I am privileged enough to be able to work here with my papers, so I feel like they should have the same thing," said marcher Apisahit Ibarra.
"The garment workers and other low-wage workers are losing their rights and their ability to earn a living," said marcher Anayatara Banerjee. "We're here in solidarity with all workers, demanding that this administration listen to the community that it's supposed to represent."
A May Day march and rally was also scheduled in Boyle Heights on Thursday.
The marches come two days after over 50,000 striking L.A. County workers represented by SEIU Local 721 held a large protest in downtown. The SEIU strike began Monday night and ended Wednesday night.
"It's important for all of us to go out to the streets, for all of us, no matter who we are, no matter where we're coming from, whether we were born here or not, to uplift the fact that folks are under attack," said Shannon Camacho, a senior associate of policy for Inclusive Action for the City.
Also in conjunction with May Day, thousands of University of California health care, research, and technical workers staged a one-day strike at UC facilities across the state.
Their union, University Professional and Technical Workers, says the action is in response to a systemwide hiring freeze imposed by the UC in March, a move the union contends is exacerbating a staffing crisis in the system.
The UPTE has been engaged in contract talks with the university, and the union staged a three-day statewide strike in February.
May Day's beginnings
The roots of May Day, or International Workers Day, stretch back over a century to a turbulent and pivotal time in U.S. labor history.
While most demonstrations have been peaceful, there have been clashes with police.
While labor and immigrant rights are historically intertwined, the focus of May Day rallies in the U.S. shifted to immigration in 2006. That's when roughly 1 million people, including nearly half a million in Chicago alone, took to the streets to protest federal legislation that would've made living in the U.S. without legal permission a felony.
In some countries, May Day is a public holiday for workers, including France, Kenya, Russia, and China, where it lasts five days.
It's also a traditional spring celebration that's observed in ways that don't involve marching in the streets or civil disobedience.
In Hawaii, May 1 is called Lei Day, which isn't an official holiday, but a statewide celebration of the Hawaiian culture and the aloha spirit through the creation and giving of lei - usually a necklace of flowers.
Elsewhere, people mark the holiday by leaving May Day baskets filled with gifts and flowers on the doorsteps of friends. The city of Annapolis, Maryland, is set to hold its 70th May Day Basket Competition, where residents and businesses outdo each other for the best floral arrangements.
City News Service, Inc. and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
