Latest news with #InternationalWorker'sDay
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigrant, labor groups protest Orange County agreement with ICE
Hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis trumpeted the arrests of more than 1,100 in Florida during an immigration enforcement sting, protesters gathered at the Orange County Jail to demand the county stop working with ICE. More than 50 people attended the Thursday event organized by Immigrants Are Welcome Here — a coalition of immigrant rights, labor and social justice groups. It coincided with International Worker's Day, also known as May Day, and sought to raise awareness of the intersection between migrant, labor and racial rights. 'God warned them and told them, 'Don't you ever close your hand on the stranger,'' said Bishop David Maldonado of Christ International Church in Apopka. 'But Orange County has decided to align itself with ICE, and instead of having a hand wide open, it has closed its fist and threatened every immigrant in our community.' Earlier in the day, DeSantis stood alongside Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Miramar to laud arrests made during the weeklong sting known as Operation Tidal Wave. He called it a model for the nation as authorities seek to remove tens of thousands more immigrants living in Florida with deportation orders. The operation was part of President Donald Trump's nationwide crackdown on immigrants without legal authority to be in the United States, an effort being felt in Central Florida. People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Participants of the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail line up to walk to the podium, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) Bishop William Cavins pastor of Abiding Presence Faith Community speaks during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Participants of the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail chant on their way to the podium, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Labor leader and member of the Central Florida Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) Ericka Gómez-Tejada speaks during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Participants of the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail line up to walk to the podium, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Labor leader and member of the Central Florida Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) Ericka Gómez-Tejada speaks during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Participants of the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail line up to walk to the podium, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Sister Ann Kendrick holds a sign while chanting during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Labor leader and member of the Central Florida Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) Ericka Gómez-Tejada speaks during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, Executive Director of the HOPE CommUnity Center, speaks during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) A passenger pulls out a sign as they drive past the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Show Caption1 of 32People hold signs during the May Day rally outside the Orange County Jail, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)Expand Between Jan. 1 and April 30 there were 1,018 people booked into the Orange County Jail with an ICE detainer compared to 1,016 similarly booked in all of last year. County commissioners voted 5-2 on March 25 to ratify an agreement to federalize jail officers to hold and transfer inmates accused of violating immigration law — a move required by a new state law that aims to crackdown on undocumented migrants. After speakers addressed the crowd for about an hour, protesters marched in front of the jail for around 30 minutes holding signs and chanting slogans like 'Money for housing and education not for jails and deportations.' Some beat a tune on buckets used as makeshift drums. In addition to demanding due process, legal resources and multilingual support for migrant detainees at the jail, protesters called for fair wages and dignified working conditions for migrant workers — who they described as the backbone of and local communities and the American economy. 'We go from field, row after row, hour after hour, so that families can eat, so that our tables are full and our communities are nourished,' said Aaron Quen of the Farmworker Association of Florida. 'We sacrifice our bodies, we give our time, we do the work that's essential, yet too often invisible. 'Far too many farmworkers continue to live in poverty, fear and silence,' Quen said. 'We face dangerous working conditions, we lack health care, we are denied protections that many others take for granted, and worst of all, we are treated as if our humanity is somehow optional.' One protester, 25-year-old mother Arelis Rivera, told the Orlando Sentinel she was there because she's worried about the future of the nation and what it could look like when her young son grows up. 'It's scary to think about what this world will be like for my son when he's older, in every way, when it comes to his rights as an autistic person, [and] just as as a man growing up in this society,' Rivera said. Although she doesn't know anyone directly affected by the county agreement with ICE, she said that's no reason not to get involved. 'I also don't think that you have to know someone directly to be fearful of what's happening,' Rivera said. 'It hurts me to see strangers going through this just as much as it would hurt me to see my mom going through this, and I feel like that's what people are not understanding.'
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
May Day rallies across Maine celebrate labor rights amid federal backlash
Nate Bantan plays euphonium with the Ideal Maine Band during a May Day march in Portland, Maine on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/ Maine Morning Star) Labor unions' annual May Day celebrations took on new urgency this year as workers rallied across Maine on Thursday to mark International Worker's Day and protest the anti-labor actions of the Trump administration. In Portland, a march organized by a coalition of unions, community and leftist political groups briefly stopped traffic on Forest Ave. as the crowd progressed from the University of Southern Maine through the city, culminating with a crowd of roughly 1,000 in Congress Square. Scott Adams, president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 458, addressed those gathered outside the post office. He said that President Donald Trump and billionaire advisor Elon Musk want to privatize the U.S. Postal Service. 'We will lose everything we won in the past if we don't fight in the present,' he said. Other speakers highlighted local labor fights. Stephen Bennett of the University of Maine Graduate Workers Union pointed out that they'd been negotiating their first contracts for more than 500 days. 'Why does the University of Maine System refuse to acknowledge that our work is valuable?' Bennett asked. Demonstrators make their way up Forest Avenue during a May Day march in Portland, Maine on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Starting at the University of Southern Maine campus, the pro-union, pro-Palestinian and anti-Trump protestors made stops at the city's main post office and Portland High School before rallying in Congress Square. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/ Maine Morning Star) May Day protestors gather in Portland, Maine's Congress Square on Thursday, May 1, 2025. A coalition of left wing organizations came together for the 1,000-person strong demonstration. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/ Maine Morning Star) May Day protestors gather in Portland, Maine's Congress Square on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/ Maine Morning Star) A woman waves a sign during a May Day march in Portland, Maine on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Starting at the University of Southern Maine campus, the pro-union, pro-Palestinian and anti-Trump protestors made stops at the city's main post office and Portland High School before rallying in Congress Square. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/ Maine Morning Star) May Day protestors gather in Portland, Maine's Congress Square on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/ Maine Morning Star) May Day protestors gather in Portland, Maine's Congress Square on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/ Maine Morning Star) May Day protestors gather in Portland, Maine's Congress Square on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/ Maine Morning Star) The graduate workers and their supporters, including the Maine Education Association and Eastern Maine Labor Council, also held a march and rally in Orono. Other events were organized in Bridgeton, Bath, Augusta, Waterville, Auburn and York. On Wednesday, national AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler participated in a listening session with Maine workers that have been impacted by the actions of the Trump administration, including a recent executive order that ended collective bargaining rights for federal unions. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregonians rally on May Day to protest Trump admin, defend immigrant rights
Protesters raise signs that read "fight ignorance not immigrants" and "uncodumented hands feed you" at a May Day celebration in Salem on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Alan Cohen/Salem Reporter) Hundreds of Oregonians marched through the blocks surrounding the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Thursday to celebrate International Worker's Day, commonly known as May Day. The crowd ranged from young adults to seniors. Some wore T-shirts representing labor unions, while others dressed in traditional Indigenous headdresses. Many attendees chanted the Spanish phrase 'sí se puede,' meaning 'yes we can,' while holding flags representing the U.S. and Mexico, LGBTQ+ pride and Ukraine and signs criticizing the Trump administration. The event was organized by Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste or PCUN, a Woodburn-based organization that has advocated for farmworker and immigrant rights in Oregon since the 1970s and continues doing so as federal immigration enforcement intensifies — especially against sanctuary states like Oregon. President Donald Trump this week called for freezing funding to states and cities that don't coordinate with federal immigration enforcement. About 120,000 unauthorized immigrants live in the state, according to a 2022 study from the Pew Research Center. Oregon since 1987 has prohibited state and local officials from helping enforce federal immigration law without judicial warrants, and lawmakers strengthened the state's sanctuary protections during the first Trump administration. PCUN, along with several Oregon faith groups, sued the Trump administration on Monday after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended a policy that limited where federal immigration officers could operate, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. '(Today) reminds us that labor rights and immigrant rights are intertwined,' PCUN Executive Director Reyna Lopez told the crowd. Freshman Rep. Lesly Muñoz, D-Woodburn, spoke to the crowd and highlighted the role immigrant workers play in Oregon's agricultural, construction, direct care and hospitality industries. 'We have an immigration system that is outdated and unjust, keeping millions in the shadows — even those who have lived here for decades, raised families here, paid taxes and contribute deeply to our communities,' Muñoz said. Muñoz, a longtime labor organizer, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her father worked as a landscaper and laborer and her mother cleaned homes, babysat and worked as a school instructional assistant. Gov. Tina Kotek, standing in front of legislative leaders, also spoke at the event and pledged that Oregon will continue honoring its long history of being a sanctuary state. 'I want to address the fear that many of you are facing right now as the federal government wages unlawful attacks on our immigrant communities that threaten our values and our right to govern ourselves,' Kotek said. 'I want you to know that I will not back down from the fight.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
eNCA
01-05-2025
- Politics
- eNCA
Celebrating workers in tough times
JOHANNESBURG - Thursday marks International Worker's Day. What are the state of workers rights in South Africa? READ: Events to be held countrywide to commemorate Workers' Day How should SA respond with technological advancements and shifting economies and trade issues threatening workers in so many sectors? Professor Lucien Van Der Walt, the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Director at Rhodes University discussed this with eNCA.
Otago Daily Times
01-05-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
‘Great and brave' Access workers seek public support
Access Community Health support workers protest on Severn St yesterday. PHOTO: JULES CHIN The wild weather across the South Island did not stop "brave" Access Community Health (ACH) workers from protesting on Severn St in Oamaru yesterday. Public Service Association (PSA) organiser Poppy Stowell said the Oamaru protest was part of union strikes throughout the country calling for the public's support for the workers' fight for better pay and conditions. About 20 support workers lined both sides of busy Severn St with protest placards, receiving toots and hollers of support from people in vehicles and pedestrians. Ms Stowell said International Worker's Day was chosen for the first strike action in almost 20 years for the workers whose employer, ACH, has not offered them a pay rise in two years. "We've got a bunch of really great and brave Access workers, care and support workers out on strike today. "In bargaining this year the employer has tried to cut a bunch of terms and conditions for these workers, trying to get rid of tenure-based pay, trying to reduce their sick leave entitlements. "And they've said, 'until you agree to all of these cuts in your conditions, we won't even talk about pay'. "So, we're really out here trying to send the employer the message that we want them to come to the table and to put their best foot forward, to put the funding that they've received back into the workers' pockets, because these guys really do an amazing job for our community," Ms Stowell said. ACH chief executive Androulla Kotrotsos said "it is simply not true" they were looking to take away tenure-based pay or sick leave entitlements. "We remain committed to a fair bargaining process ... We would like to provide an increase for our workforce and understand their frustration." ACH contracts were entirely government funded and there was an uplift of up to 3.2% for some contracts in July 2024 to meet rising costs, "but it was not tagged for pay rises, nor was it sufficient to do so," she said. Ms Stowell said better terms and conditions and pay for the workers would allow them to "live with dignity". ACH supports more than 40,000 people with nursing, personal care, rehabilitation and household assistance to enable them to live independently in their own homes. About 2939 support workers and 219 nurses are employed by ACH in New Zealand. PSA Oamaru delegate and support worker Serayna Harris said the lack of a pay increase was not fair to the dedicated support workers. "We're worth more than that. Without us, people can't stay in their homes. We are essential workers," Mrs Harris said. Ms Stowell said the workers help look after "vulnerable people" in the community. "Getting out on strike is a huge deal for these workers, because they're so committed to the support that they can provide, and to helping those people who really need it the most."
