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May Day marches and rallies in Southern California this past weekend, drew thousands of people energized by the Bernie Sanders campaign and motivated against everything for which Donald Trump stands.
Activists pushed a 40-foot-tall effigy of Trump holding a Ku Klux Klan hood while chanting.
International Worker’s Day was commemorated in Los Angeles with several marches that highlighted the fight for immigration reform, the push for a $15 federal minimum wage and support for Democrat Bernie Sanders.
But those issues were eclipsed by strong sentiments against Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner, whose rallies in California led to clashes between his supporters and opponents.
Juan Jose Gutierrez, an organizer with the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition, said his efforts were focused on defeating Trump and his anti-immigrant hate speech.
“The main message today is stop racism, stop hate, stop Donald Trump. Our response was symbolized by what happened in Costa Mesa and in Burlingame over the last few days where he was repudiated and practically chased out of the state. This is California here. We don’t build walls, we tear them down.”
Detroit Teacher Sickout and Protests Continue
“No Pay, no Work! No Pay, no work! And if we don’t get it? Shut it down!,” chanted Detroit Federation of Teachers members protesting a possible cut-off of pay June 30.
With public schools in Detroit in crisis and no meaningful quick response from government to resolve it teachers are shutting down the schools with sickouts.
American Federation of teachers President Randi Weingarten said Tuesday in Detroit that the prospect of pay-less paydays for Detroit teachers is tantamount to wage theft.
“The district’s promises are no longer worth the paper that they’re printed on. Although educators want nothing more than to be in the classroom helping our students learn and grow, the district has left us with no choice,” said Detroit federation of teachers Vice President Terrence Martin.
Ivy Bailey is interim president of the Detroit federation of Teachers. She says teachers will stay out until they get guarantees that they will be paid for their work. “Detroit children deserve access to a world class education. And the educators who make that possible deserve, at bare minimum, to be paid for the work they do.”