May Day, May Day, May Day: A universal distress call for workers

Miami Herald

30-04-2025

This May Day we are sounding the alarm. May 1, International Labor Day, is more than a date; it's a movement for justice, equality and dignity for working people.
We honor the enduring power of solidarity and the fight for justice in the farm fields, streets and our classrooms, all of which are currently under attack.
The struggles of workers and civil rights have always been intertwined. From Cuban patriot José Martí, who fought for the dignity and freedom of workers across the Americas in the 19th century, to Mexican-Amercan Cesar Chavez, who led the United Farm Workers' movement in California in the 1960s to fight for better wages and conditions, history has shown that the fight for labor rights is inseparable from the fight for human rights.
In Latin America, Martí championed the rights of the oppressed and believed that true liberty could only be achieved when workers were treated with dignity and respect.
In the United States, from labor strikes of the late 1800s to the Memphis sanitation workers' strike of 1968, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, workers have always stood at the center of the fight for civil rights. Workers have endured many injustices while leading the charge for a better future for all.
Today, that fight continues.
The Trump administration has aggressively targeted union rights, especially for federal workers. In March, Trump issued an executive order nullifying contracts for thousands of federal employees.
The administration also eliminated collective bargaining rights for all Transportation Security Administration workers, affecting over 40,000 employees. It has also gutted worker protection agencies by firing staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and cutting the Department of Education, making our workplaces less safe and our ability to provide resources for students with disabilities and vulnerable children in rural and urban communities less attainable.
From Washington, D.C., to Tallahassee, extremist politicians are working overtime to silence our collective voice.
Here in Florida, state leaders have pushed dangerous legislation like 2023's Senate Bill 256 to weaken worker rights, silence educators and block workers from organizing for better pay, safe workplaces and basic dignity.
These attacks hurt our children, families, futures and communities.
But we are not backing down.
May Day is a celebration of the power of solidarity among all workers. It is a reminder that across race, background and job title, we are standing together for a Florida and a nation where workers are respected, voices are heard and no one is left behind.
While immigrant workers are harvesting our produce under the hot sun, SEIU nurses are saving lives, AFSCME workers are cleaning up our streets, TWU drivers are taking people to and from work and UTD educators are giving students access to opportunities through education, we demand that Congress do their job.
We need Congress to take back their power and enact the checks and balances that exist in the U.S. Constitution.
All of us have a job and we expect Congress to protect our democracy from fascism.
That is why, on this International Labor Day, I ask you to stand with workers everywhere by speaking out, organizing and resisting authoritarianism attempting to take away our rights.
Join the thousands of people who are taking up public spaces and demanding justice for education, workers, healthcare and opportunities for all.
The movements across our nation are growing and will be more impactful when we all stand in solidarity of our collective rights.
As the chant goes, 'When workers' rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!'
Because when we fight together, we win. And when we rise in solidarity, we rise for all.
Karla Hernandez-Mats is the outgoing president of the United Teachers of Dade.