May Day Rallies Demand Equity and Rights for All Essential Workers

In Connecticut, as around the country and world, the celebration of May Day, International Workers Day, has taken on new meaning in this pandemic year with scores of marches, protests and strikes on behalf of the safety, wages and benefits of all essential workers. The lives lost in the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis, the crisis of systemic racism and the climate crisis are all being fought out on the streets and in the legislature.

On Sunday at 4 pm, after the rallies and marches on May 1, the Connecticut People's World will host a virtual rally, May Day 2021: Workers of the World Unite for an Equitable Recovery for All featuring a slide show and panel of worker and immigrant leaders. Register in advance to receive the zoom link in your e-mail.

And on Wednesday May 5 at 5 pm the unions at Yale and New Haven Rising will cap off the May Day week with a giant rally and car caravan at Grove and Prospect Streets demanding that Yale settle good contracts in the current negotiations with 5,000 workers, make a substantial contribution to the City of New Haven, and hire workers from Black and Latino neighborhoods in the city.

The University endowment has increased to $31 billion during the pandemic, as working people and the city have struggled. On May 1 the unions will hold a day long street painting event at Grove and Prospect with the words “Yale Respect New Haven.”

A major state-wide action will take place at the Governor's Mansion on Saturday, May 1 at noon, organized by the Recovery for All coalition. This is a time for bold, transformative change say the many union, community and faith groups that make up Recovery for All. It is a time to expand health care, housing, education and aid to cities, they say, which can be funded by increasing taxes on the very wealthy who now pay a much lower combined tax rate than everyone else.

The courage and sacrifice of essential workers is at the heart of a series of protests leading up to the rally at the Governor's Mansion.

The May Day rally will call on Governor Lamont to pass a budget that repairs Connecticut's broken tax structure, makes dramatic investments in communities, and lays the foundation for rebuilding a better and more equitable Connecticut. While working class residents face insecurity and crisis, eleven Connecticut billionaires saw their wealth increase by $8 billion during the pandemic, yet continue to pay a much lower rate in combined taxes than everyone else.

The rally will also stand in solidarity with healthcare workers who may be forced out on strike for living wages and PPE at 50 nursing homes.

Rallies leading up to May Day were also held at the Department of Labor, health care facilities and schools around the state. On May 17 the actions will culminate in a state-wide protest at the State Capitol.

On April 30, students, staff, and faculty from the state's colleges and universities are marching from to the state capitol to demand greater investment, equity, and access in public higher education. They are calling for a system of higher education that offers students of all ages and backgrounds the possibility to obtain quality education without being saddled with crushing student debt.

Since 2006, immigrant workers and the entire labor movement have joined together to place their demands. On Saturday May 1 at 10 am prior to going to the Governor's Mansion, Make the Road and Connecticut Students for a Dream will gather at the ICE office on Main Street in Hartford to demand a road map to citizenship for immigrant essential workers, to stop deportations and include the undocumented in COVID relief.

“Our black and brown communities are the ones who suffer most when our schools are under-funded, when access to healthcare is unaffordable, and when our streets, schools, and communities are over policed,” they emphasize.

Later on May 1 in New Haven, a march led by Unidad Latina en Accion will demand a path to citizenship, amnesty and full equal rights for essential immigrant workers. At 3:00 pm on the New Haven Green immigrants, public officials, and community leaders will give testimonies before the march which will conclude with live salsa music on the Green.

“Undocumented immigrants are disproportionately represented in the 'essential' industries that have suffered the highest rates of COVID mortality. These deaths are not accidental, but produced by anti-worker and anti-immigrant policies that have been deliberately advanced to ensure that immigrant labor is super-exploitable and to exclude immigrants from health protections and stimulus payments,” they said in a release.

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The week before, a march from the Fair Haven neighborhood to New Haven city hall demanded that the Husky healthcare program be extended to include immigrants regardless of status. The Husky for Immigrants action brought state-wide support. State Rep. Anne Hughes told the crowd that even though there are some in the legislature who want to limit expansion of HUSKY to children, “there is no reason you should have to beg, health care is a human right.”

Many marches and rallies were held on Earth Day, leading up to May Day. An Earth/Peace Day gathering organized by the City of New Haven Peace Commission was held at the Amistad Statue outside City Hall to celebrate the Green New Deal and New Haven's 82% vote to reallocate funds from the military budget to cities, jobs and a sustainable economy, calling on Congress to respond.

MAY DAY WEEKEND PLUS

HARTFORD

Sat May 1 at 10 am at the ICE offices, 450 Main St, Hartford. Call to action for immigrant workers rights. https://www.facebook.com/events/1264340503982984

Sat May 1 at noon at the Governor’s Mansion , Hartford. Recovery for All Coalition picket and action to demand increased services and worker benefits with revenue from taxing the wealthiest their fair share..

NEW HAVEN

Sat May 1 from 9 am to 5 pm at Prospect and Grove St New Haven. Paint Yale: Respect New Haven on the street. At 1 pm delivery of petitions to President Salovey's house. pick up a paintbrush as we paint 'Yale: Respect New Haven' on Prospect Street

Sat May 1 at 3 pm on the New Haven Green. Unidad Latina en Accion tabling and speeches followed by a march at 4 pm through downtown New Haven and then salsa and dancing on the Green .https://www.facebook.com/events/5364143433660641

Sat May 2 at 4 pm virtual. CT People's World May Day rally: May Day 2021: Register now. Workers of the World Unite for an Equitable Recovery for All  Panel, Slide Show. Music. Actions.

Wed May 5 at 5 pm at Prospect and Grove Sts, New Haven. Yale unions and allies demand respect for the union and the New Haven community. Social distancing, masks, and all other necessary safety precautions will be followed. When we fight together, we win. Yale Respect New Haven Car Caravan