International Workers’ Day will bring together thousands of workers, immigrants and their allies on Tuesday, May 1, for a regional demonstration. Beginning at 4:00 p.m. in East Boston, participants will march through Chelsea and Everett in a show of solidarity and resistance to the Trump administration’s policies targeting workers and immigrants.
The Trump administration’s efforts to criminalize immigrants represent more than an assault on the civil rights of communities of color, according to organizers. Labor, community and immigrants’ rights groups warn that such policies create a dangerous climate of intolerance, already manifesting in rising hate crimes against immigrants and those perceived as foreign across the nation.
Participants will demonstrate how unions have protected workers through collective action. The organizers are also calling on the state legislature to establish protections for communities and uphold the rule of law by keeping local law enforcement separate from federal immigration and deportation operations.
Activities begin at 10 a.m. with a multi-community roundtable at the Chelsea Collaborative, 318 Broadway, featuring Esther Lopez, secretary-treasurer of the United Food and Commercial Workers International (UFCW).
The march departs from Liberty Plaza in East Boston at 4 p.m., proceeding to Chelsea City Hall. At 4:30 p.m., marchers will continue from Chelsea to Glendale Park in Everett, where a rally and cultural program will commence at 5:30 p.m.
The May 1 Coalition of Chelsea, Everett & East Boston comprises the Chelsea Collaborative, La Comunidad Inc., City Life/Vida Urbana, International UFCW, UFCW Local 1445, Raise Up, Fight for $15, MIRA, American Friends Service Committee, MassCOSH, SEIU 32BJ, SEIU 509, Jobs With Justice, New England Carpenters Union, Mass. AFL-CIO, Community Labor United, Chinese Progressive Association, Brazilian Women’s Group, UUMassAction, Chelsea Uniting Against the War, IWCC, Projecto Hondureño, Workers World, EBECC, Painters Union, NOAH, Brazilian Workers Center, CAN, and Comite de Hondureños Unidos de Massachusetts.