With a nationwide movement afoot, and more than 30 D.C. organizations heeding the call, this year’s Labor Day paralleled the journey that fortified workers’ protections in the 19th century, particularly for Vilma Ruiz, who commenced the long weekend on the picket lines of Le Diplomate in Northwest D.C.
An employee of the French café for four years, Ruiz joined hundreds of allies and labor unions in a call to action that began at DuPont Circle on Aug. 28, which also marked the 62nd anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
On her list of demands: livable wages, affordable health insurance, a safe work environment, and the ability to form a union at her place of employment.
“[My coworkers and I] are fighting for respect,” said Ruiz, with the assistance of an English translator. “On several occasions, I felt disrespected at work. A chef hit me hard on the shoulder — it’s not right.”
Ruiz was one of dozens of guest speakers championing justice throughout Thursday’s “Solidarity Season: A Labor Day Rally + March,” a continuation of the May Day Strong campaign sparking national outrage against what organizers call “a billionaire takeover.”
Institutions like the Washington State of Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Federal Unionists Network, AFGE District 14, and the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU), alongside others, set the tone for a new wave of demonstrations taking place through Sept. 6, mobilizing in service to the 1 million federal workers stripped of collective bargaining rights and thousands displaced at the hands of the Trump administration.
“Our mission is simple and powerful: respect for the job, fair pay, safe workplaces, due processes, real telework that works, dignity for every federal and D.C. government worker who keeps this country running,” said District 14 National Vice President Ottis Johnson Jr. “That is what we bargain for, that is what we organize for. That is what we [will] win.”
As marchers took to the streets of 14th St NW, joining Ruiz on the picket line of Le Diplomate before culminating the protest in Logan Circle, chants of resistance rang with a vengeance.
Community leaders and unions from near and far joined the fight, including Advisory Neighborhood Chair Salim Adofo (8C); charmain of the New Jersey-based People’s Organization for Progress, Lawrence Hamm; and rally speakers such as Keya Chatterjee, executive director of Free DC, Federal Unioninist Network organizer Paul Osadebe, Julia Truelove of the DC Nurses Association, and union representatives from New York (32BJ SEIU) and the DMV, La ColectiVA and SEIU Local 500.
Reflecting on the activists who charged on the National Mall 62 years ago, Adofo told The Informer a revived March on Washington would “look similar” to the coalition seen on Aug. 28, commending the anniversary as a vision of resistance that later generations get to build upon.
“We know today is just about bringing people together and getting motivated to go out and do the real work every day: getting people to sign up for organizations, getting folks to write the letters, and mobilize,” he explained. “I think our ancestors, or people who are still around who attended [the March on Washington], would be thinking and wanting to do the same.”
Further, the day of action highlighted the intersections of disruptors in the local landscape, including the armed forces patrolling the city, anti-immigration efforts, D.C. statehood, public education, and falsities against the unhoused population.
As leaders came with demands, and protesters left with marching orders, Osadebe reminded rally-goers that the work truly begins within the community, and “we don’t need anyone’s permission.”
“We are the ones who actually care about safety, health care, clean air and labor rights,” he said. “It’s up to us to defend our city, to defend our jobs, to defend the American public. When I see a crowd like this, I know we have more than enough power to stop all [of it].”
From Corporate Boycotts to Debt Relief: Rally Takeaways, Calls to Action
As the large crowd scoured Northwest and amid the National Guard’s presence in D.C., Hamm reflected on a time when Newark, New Jersey, was occupied by federal troops in 1967, recalling the sight of “jeeps, tanks and trucks, and rifles and guns” that marked a period of oppression in the then-13-year-old’s community.
“They sent the National Guard to Newark believing that somehow they would break the spirit of resistance, and not only did they not break the spirit of resistance, they made it stronger,” Hamm told The Informer, noting the city would elect its first Black mayor three years post-takeover.
With Washingtonians now trekking a similar battle, the chairman says the “righteous indignation of the people” is afoot in the nation’s capital.
“That’s what Black history teaches us – that if you struggle, you make progress,” said Hamm. “[This rally] is a microcosm of the kind of [effort] that we have to build in this country, to stop the fascist movement.”
With the current federal takeover in the nation’s capital and President Donald Trump ordering the National Guard to Chicago and Baltimore — two cities with large Black populations like D.C. — Hamm contends the District’s current fight is truly a national battle against injustice.
“If Trump can get away with doing this in D.C., he’s going to try to do it in every city in America,” said Hamm. “This is a prelude to a military takeover in this country, and it’s going on right before our eyes.”
Ahead of the march, Chatterjee of Free DC pushed for the city’s liberation from heightened law enforcement and an overwhelming presence of ICE agents, many of which have reportedly been harassing predominantly Black and Brown communities.
Thus, she tasked attendees with a nationwide boycott against Amazon, beginning on Aug. 28, citing the company as a direct fund for immigration detentions and deportations, “all while crushing their own workers to make them do it faster and with fewer protections.”
“This is a company that depends on ICE to make money, and ICE depends on them to do its work of kidnapping people,” Chatterjee candidly stated. “Where we spend our money is a choice that each of us makes every single day, and we can choose to either make this administration’s work easier or harder.”
According to Laura Fuchs, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union representing nearly 6,000 educators in the District, challenging “fascists trying to destroy our communities” is nothing new in the public education sector.
Due to the imposition of the Charter School Board Act of the 1990s, which has permitted billionaires and corporations to infiltrate policy-making systems in District education, Fuchs shared WTU has spent the last 20 years challenging privatization through efforts led by unions, parents, students and community partnerships, making each integral to sustaining public school systems.
Similarly, local educator Dr. Soyini Richards, a member of SEIU Local 500, emphasized some of the broader impacts of losing free secondary schooling.
“When higher education is threatened, it is not just institutions that suffer,” Richards pleaded. “It is the adjunct faculty like myself that work tirelessly without job security, the graduate workers that keep the campuses alive while barely making ends meet, the staff who keep our schools running with dignity and heart, who often get no recognition or fair pay.”
She further credited workers’ rights, immigrant communities, public education and “the very idea of equal opportunity” as the foundation of America’s future, later calling for attendees to join her demands for student debt relief, with Hamm seconding the notion on behalf of his own daughter’s $130,000 worth of payments.
“And she’s just one of millions of young people,” he continued. “What kind of lives can they lead? How are they going to start a life, own a house with that kind of debt?”
In hopes of seeing a real change spark, within all areas of grievance, Hamm encouraged Washingtonians to invest in collaboration to forge “the biggest movement possible,” spotlighting organizations like Free DC and Harriet’s Wildest Dreams for helping to lead the charge thus far.
Osadebe encouraged federal workers “to get mad and organize” with the tools at their disposal, which Johnson emphasized includes contacting congressional and local leaders, showing up for bargaining, and spreading awareness about the ongoing mobilizations – including the Sept. 4 Labor Day National Debrief Call, and the “We Are All DC” national march, set to take place Sept. 6 at Malcolm X Park in Northwest D.C.
While admitting he would’ve liked to see protesters leverage the 62nd anniversary for another March on Washington, Hamm noted “there’s still time,” touting his allegiance to support D.C. in a battle that’s “not going to be easy, [or] happen in the short term,” but can be successful with determination, resilience, and a nation worth of solidarity.
“‘Power concedes nothing without a demand–it never did, and it never will,’” he told The Informer, quoting Maryland abolitionist Frederick Douglass. “That’s why I’m so happy to be here today. And the next time I come back, I’m coming with a bus load of people.”