LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Thousands of union members and immigrant-rights supporters on Thursday flooded the streets of Southern California to mark International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day.
A coalition of unions and other groups kicked off the day with a rally at 9 a.m. in downtown at Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street. The group then marched east on Olympic and north on Los Angeles Street, heading toward the Metropolitan Detention Center.
The focus was standing in solidarity with immigrant communities, while also condemning the Trump administration’s actions impacting immigrants and working people.
“We haven’t seen these numbers in a very long time. We’re expecting thousands of people, I’m guessing around 4,000 to 5,000 people to come together, to march together, to really take over the streets of Los Angeles,” said Pedro Trujillo, the lead facilitator for the LA May Day Coalition.
Later in the day, there will be a May Day march and rally in Boyle Heights.
The marches come two days after thousands of 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.
Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
