{"id":43631,"date":"2025-09-02T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=43631"},"modified":"2025-09-02T14:00:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:00:07","slug":"americans-take-to-the-streets-for-1000-workers-over-billionaires-labor-day-rallies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/02\/americans-take-to-the-streets-for-1000-workers-over-billionaires-labor-day-rallies\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans Take to the Streets for 1,000+ ‘Workers Over Billionaires’ Labor Day Rallies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"US<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks at a “Workers Over Billionaire” Labor Day rally in Concord, New Hampshire on September 1, 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo: Anna Bahr\/X)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Workers are fighting for a society where public schools take precedence over private profits, healthcare is prioritized over hedge funds, and affordable housing is valued more than homelessness,” said May Day Strong.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sep 01, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a developing story… Please check back for possible updates.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans turned out across the United States on Monday for more than 1,000 demonstrations against President Donald Trump<\/a> and other oligarchs “to reclaim worker power against billionaires who hoard unprecedented wealth and power.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “Workers Over Billionaires” protests are being led by the May Day Strong Coalition, which is made up of dozens of organizations including the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, National Union of Healthcare Workers, and advocacy groups like Americans for Tax Fairness, Indivisible, Our Revolution, and Public Citizen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demonstrations took place or are set to happen in big cities, small towns, and communities in between all across the nation. Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna<\/a> (D-Calif.) spoke at a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, where Sanders\u2014whose “Fight Oligarchy Tour” has been drawing huge crowds<\/a> across the country\u2014vowed<\/a> that “together, we will create an economy and government that work for all, not just the 1%.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khanna said that “today on Labor Day, we must recognize the workers across the country who build our economy and strengthen our nation. We need to fight for a living wage and stronger unions as we work to reindustrialize America.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanders\u00a0took<\/a>\u00a0his Fighting Oligarchy Tour to Portland, Maine on Monday, where he was joined by guests including Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who is\u00a0running<\/a>\u00a0to unseat five-term Republican US Sen. Susan Collins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/broadcasts\/1ynJOMgqbMwKR<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a video posted on the social media site Bluesky before the rally, Platner said he “could not think of a better day to be a pro-labor candidate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Organized labor is the basis of the movement that we are going to have to build to retake this country for working people,” Platner added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May Day Strong said Monday’s mobilizations aim “to build collective action against billionaires taking over the US government.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Building upon momentum from May Day, Good Trouble Lives On, No Kings, and key impromptu actions in the streets and the workplace, Workers Over Billionaires will reach communities nationwide, tapping rural and city workers to stop the billionaire agenda that continues to burden everyone,” the coalition said. “As the federal government continues to enable the ultrarich, working people are stepping onto pavement to stop their greed and protect their families.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Working families want to live in a country that puts workers over billionaires,” the coalition added. “Workers are fighting for a society where public schools take precedence over private profits, healthcare is prioritized over hedge funds, and affordable housing is valued more than homelessness.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In New York, actions included a rally outside Trump Tower in Manhattan, where demonstrators demanded a $30 an hour minimum wage. Members of groups including One Fair Wage (OFW) staged a “Restaurant in the Street” demonstration “designed to highlight the struggle of working people and launch the New York Living Wage for All campaign.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/1962595167027986604\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“The action coincides with the release<\/a> of a new OFW report, Making America Affordable Now: The Case for a Living Wage for All<\/em>, which finds that nearly half of US workers\u201467 million people\u2014earn less than $25 an hour,” One Fair Wage said. “In New York, 41% of workers fall below that threshold.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OFW said that the demand for a living wage is the “next generation of the Fight for $15,” warning that “past wage gains have been erased by historic inflation, skyrocketing rents, and cuts to Medicaid and SNAP,” the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It also highlights how gimmicks like Trump’s ‘No Tax on Tips’ proposal\u00a0do little to address workers’ needs<\/a>, since two-thirds of tipped workers earn too little to benefit,” OFW added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/onefairwage\/status\/1962601196038037576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1962601196038037576%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fworkers-over-billionaires-labor-day<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Chicago, at least hundreds of people from dozens of groups including the Chicago Teachers Union, Teamsters, and healthcare and hospitality workers rallied against Trump’s Project 2025-inspired evisceration of federal agencies and the social safety net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson denounced Trump’s threat<\/a> to send federal forces into the Windy City in a similar occupation to the one underway in Washington, DC, leading chants of “No troops in Chicago! No troops in Chicago! Invest in Chicago!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten told Chicago protesters that “what has happened in this country is that the billionaires don’t understand this country was created in protest and resistance to fight off a king, not to recreate a king.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chicago protester Mark Petersen told<\/a> NBC Chicago:<\/em> “I think solidarity among workers is probably the most important thing we can do right now. We’re looking at our country get disassembled from the top down, and the best thing we can do is unite from the bottom up.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hotel workers at the Hilton Americas-Houston downtown went on strike<\/a> before dawn Monday, demanding a $23 hourly minimum wage. They kicked off their planned nine-day strike with a protest at 6:00 am, during which workers chanted, “Aqu\u00ed estamos, y no nos vamos”\u2014”We are here, and we won’t leave.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The workers are feeling this need urgently,” Franchesca Caraballo, president of Unite Here Local 23’s Texas chapter. “We have to take it up several notches here to turn up the pressure on this company.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Indianapolis, marchers chanted, “No fascists, support unions, support workers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#HAPPENINGNOW<\/a>: The May Day Strong protest downtown is kicking off with protesters marching from the Indiana Statehouse. pic.twitter.com\/cya1S5yS5i<\/a><\/p>— Jade Jackson, MBA Candidate (@IAMJADEJACKSON) September 1, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>