May Day Actions Build Solidarity Across Connecticut

 

May Day rallies and marches across Connecticut and the nation celebrated International Workers Day on May 1 with demands to end the billionaire takeover and pledges to organize for workers power and prioritie the needs of “our families, not their fortunes/”

NEW HAVEN

The streets of New Haven were filled for blocks as marchers chanted “We are Many, They are Few.” A statewide rally in opposition to the destructive Trump MAGA agenda kicked off the march. Union members from Unite Here, teachers, 1199, AFSCME, machinists, transit workers, teamsters and others joined with immigrant rights groups and students who organized their classmates.

Leslie Blatteau, New Haven Federation of Teachers president, and Rev Scott Marks director of New Haven Rising welcomed the large crowd with energizing chants of “when we fight we win!” and “We Won't Go Back.”

Fifteen year old Journey Rosa captivated the crowd as she recited her impactful poem which began “I've heard justice in the way my own voice learned to stand up straight. I am fifteen / Not fragile, not fresh / Not some soft idea of hope.”

Representing New Haven Peoples Center, Lisa Bergmann and Jahmal Henderson opened the program exclaiming “If not us, who? If not now when?” in a powerful call to action.

Speakers demanded full funding for public schools, affordable housing, protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other essential programs. They demanded an end to targeting immigrant, Black, indigenous, transgender and other communities of color. They demanded dignity and fair wages for all workers, regardless of race, location or immigration status. They demanded an end to the genocide in Gaza.

Speaking on behalf of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, secretary treasurer Shellye Davis greeted the action saying that May Day is all about solidarity. President Ed Hawthorne spoke at a simultaneous May Day action in Groton where UAW members held a practice picket for their May 18 strike notice to General Dynamics.

Michael Furlow, SEIU 1199 NE nursing home worker, decried conditions of healthcare workers and clients. “We will no longer be brought to tears as they suffer in silence. They deserve real quality of care. They deserve dignity. They deserve respoect. And so do we,” he said to applause.

The nursing home workers delivered a May 19 strike notice to Governor Lamont during a morning May Day rally in Hartford.

John Harrity, representing the International Association of Machinists in contract negotiations with Pratt & Whitney asked the crowd, “If we have to go out on strike, will you walk the picket line with us?” “YES!” was the resounding reply.

Josh Stanley, Unite Here Local 217 secretary treasurer underscored the critical importance of worker solidarity in the face of attacks, calling for passage of SB 8 for striking workers to qualify for unemployment insurance. .

New Haven Immigrant Coalition youth members Ambar Santiago Rojas and Melissa Rodriguez declared, “The new Trump administration thinks it's dividing us, but it is bringing us together.” Their demands included boycotting Avelo Airlines until they sever their contarct with ICE, fully funding schools, and stopping the genocide in Palestine.

Opposing budget cuts to New Haven schools, Metropolitan Business Academy sophomore Brandon Daley shared his fear that federal education cuts might limit his financial aid for college.

The powerful calls to action signaled a potent resurgence against Trump's fascist administration. The infectious energy of the Wilbur Cross drumline set the pace for the march up Chapel Street. Through the dowtown core, the resonant chants of “We Are the Many! They Are the Few!” and “When we fight, we Win!” proclaimed the growing strength of a unifying movement..

HARTFORD

Make the Road, CT For All and SEIU 32BJ organized with the immigrant community and social justice allies to rally on May Day at Bushnell Park and march to the State Capitol.

Essential workers and those impacted shared testimonies to demand legislation tp provide equitable education, protections for renters, expanded workers' rights, and healthcare access to all immigrants.

SEIU 1199 NE members delivered strike notices to the State on behalf of over 5,500 healthcare workers across 51 nursing homes. This would mark the largest healthcare strike in Connecticut history.

SEIU 32BJ members marched to the Science Center to demand union workers who lost jobs when a new non-union contracter was hired, get their jobs back.

GROTON

On May Day, over a thousand UAW union workers marched from Washington Park to the Groton shipyard for a practice picket outside General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard to tell the bosses that the clock is ticking.

At midnight on May 18, the 2,500 MDA-UAW Local 571 members will strike. General Dynamics just paid $983 million to executives and shareholders while refusing to bargain over COLA, profit sharing, and pensions. All the demands cost less than the company’s Wall Street payouts! UAW members rallied to show “we’re getting stronger and won’t stop until we win the contract we deserve.”