Hundreds of San Diegans March and Rally for Workers’ Rights, Unions and Immigrants

Upwards of a thousand San Diegans rallied and marched on Thursday, May 1, for International Workers Day, shining light on a number of local unions involved in fights with management and on the contributions by immigrants to the nation. They rallied in Hillcrest, Balboa Park, at Chicano Park and at the Waterfront Park at the bay.

Nearly a 1,000 demonstrators marched in the morning through the streets from UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Center to Balboa Park. Later in the day at Waterfront Park, dozens protested and then at night, hundreds rallied at Chicano Park.

Demonstrations occurred across the country — and the world in honor of workers.

The U-T reported:

At the hospital in Hillcrest, hundreds of UC San Diego Health system employees — including tech support specialists, pharmacists and patient ambassadors — gathered around 10 a.m. near the hospital’s entrance to demand better pay and work conditions during a one-day strike.

Members of the Union of Professional and Technical Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees held signs and congregated in front of the hospital entrance where patients and doctors entered and exited.

Demonstrators were led in chants before the crowd began their 1½-mile march to Balboa Park, joined by members of local chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and Service Employees International Union, representing those who work in everything from health care to food services to retail.

The march temporarily snarled traffic along surface streets, the crowd stretching about two city blocks long, but no incidents were reported to San Diego police. The demonstrators gathered at the park to listen to speeches praising organized labor and calling for solidarity. …

Randall Turner, who works in information technology at the UC San Diego East Campus Medical Center, said he was demonstrating against the hiring freeze instituted by UC San Diego Health. He performs maintenance and provides support for computers and other tech equipment that doctors and other staff use to treat patients. “We are already at a critical point with our staff where we are having to travel to multiple locations and do a lot of things, and it’s just not giving enough support to all our sites at the same time,” Turner said. …

Lisa Tiller, a patient ambassador at UC San Diego Health’s Moores Cancer Center who helps patients with everything from transportation to patient accommodations, said she has been “feeling the pressure” of the staffing levels. “We’re overworked, we’re underpaid, we’re understaffed,” she said.

Fox5 reported:

The first demonstration of the day in San Diego …was a more of a traditional “May Day” action, even as Trump’s actions in his first 100 days in office remained a prominent theme. The event was a walkout by unionized UCSD Health workers over the University of California’s recent hiring freeze, which they say constitutes an unfair labor practice.

According to the union representing the workers, UPTE-CWA Local 9119, the pause had been implemented without speaking to union representatives, worsening issues like understaffing and high turnover among frontline workers. Across the entire UC system, more than 20,000 workers participated in the “May Day” action, UPTE-CWA Local 9119 said.

In San Diego, those workers were joined by other unions unaffiliated with UCSD Health, marshaled by the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council. “Billionaires like Trump/Elon have destroyed our communities for generations; we’re beyond crisis,” the council wrote in a post on Instagram before the protest. “Send a powerful message to the billionaires + their suck-ups that we ain’t going to take it anymore.”

Chicano Park

Hundreds also showed up to a rally at Chicano Park in Barrio Logan Thursday evening. The U-T:

Later in the afternoon, Ricardo Gómez, 73, hoisting a flag representing the farmworker movement, was among the hundreds who had gathered at Chicano Park in solidarity with workers’ struggles. The Logan Heights resident and longtime social activist had been part of the protest movement in 1970 that created the park. “Immigrants are the ones who lift this country up,” he said. He echoed others who said they were concerned about Trump’s mass deportation goals. “It’s sad,” he said. “The same people who give everything to this country, even pay taxes, and they are being treated like they’re criminals.”

Protestors march throughout Barrio Logan for May Day on Thursday. Demonstrators issued demands that Immigration and Customs Enforcement stay out of their communities, especially their schools. A group of Aztec dancers led the hour-long march from historic Chicano Park through the streets of Logan Heights.

As they walked down Imperial Avenue, onlookers emerged from homes and businesses to witness and record the march on their cellphones. “Únete pueblo,” or “People, join us,” some protesters said, inviting them to join.

“We’ve got to fight back,” said Marisol Durán, a high school teacher with the San Diego Association of Raza Educators.

Waterfront

Fox5:

In Waterfront Park, the peaceful protest celebrated the culture with music and fiery chants, all aiming to create a more welcoming environment for immigrant workers and signal an emergency call to action. About 50 people showed up with signs at the rally, joining the hundreds of others across the nation.

“Immigrant rights and worker rights are inextricably linked,” said Tony Goodwin, the senior organizer with Amnesty International. “They just have a long historical through line.”

“I’ve seen 80 to 90-year-old people out here,” said protester Elisabeth Sullivan. “They’re mad, and they should be mad.” “I don’t feel like anyone should be silent. If you’re silent, you’re saying it’s okay. It’s not okay. None of this is normal,” Sullivan said.

While recognizing International Workers’ Day, attendees criticized the Trump administration’s policies and the impacts on working people.

Even Eastlake High School students participated, clipping butterflies to this sign as a symbol of the beauty in migration. “I am a child of two Ghanaian immigrants, and I just can’t imagine my life without the opportunities that I was able to have growing up,” Aseye Abjasu said. “When I look at some of these stories, I see a mirror of myself, and what would happen if it was me immigrating at this time.” …

“We are a country of immigrants, and to be deporting people just because they want a better life is unfair,” high schooler Nicole Alvarez said.

“An organizer is committed to turning those moments into movements,” Goodwin said. At the rally, Goodwin encouraged activists to call their local representatives to express their opinions to create lasting change. …

The peaceful protest celebrated the culture with music and fiery chants, all aiming to create a more welcoming environment for immigrant workers and signal an emergency call to action.