Ei-iE

Across the United States and around the world, working people came together on May 1st, International Workers Day, to honor the legacy of those who fought for workers' rights and to carry that fight forward. In the United States tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country with major rallies in Los Angeles and Washington DC in strong opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration.

Education unions leading the way

The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) joined parents, educators, students, and neighbors, to participate in more than 800 demonstrations in over 1000 cities, the largest demonstrations since the return of Trump to office. The demonstrations were held in response to extreme measures imposed by the Trump Administration, including the assault on public education and working people, the reversal of diversity, equity, and inclusiveness policies, and the direct attacks on immigrant students and their families.

Becky Pringle, President of the NEA, highlighted the reasons behind the May Day mobilization. "Why do we march on May day?" Pringle asked. "We march because billionaires are defunding our public schools and breaking promises to our students." She emphasized that working people, including teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and counselors, deserve more than just survival. "Students deserve schools that are well funded and neighborhoods that are safe. Workers deserve jobs that treat them with dignity," she stated. May Day is a critical moment to carry forward the fight for these rights.

Randi Weingarten, President of the AFT, emphasized the critical need to protect students. Speaking from a rally, Weingarten described educators participating in hundreds of events across the country with a clear message: "Do not come into our schools to take our children. Do not come into our schools to take our students". She asserted that "Our students have a right to be educated in these United States of America, whether they are documented or undocumented." Weingarten passionately stated, "Our schools must be safe zones." Drawing on her own family's immigrant history, she spoke about the labor movement's obligation to stand up for everyone, particularly on May Day.

The demonstrations addressed a range of crucial issues in the United States, including:

• Stopping the influence and corruption of billionaires and the administration.
• Protecting essential programs like Medicaid and Social Security.
• Fully funding public schools, healthcare, and housing.
• Ending attacks on marginalized communities, including immigrants, people of color, Native people, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Free Kilmar

The activists also demanded the release of Kilmar Abrego García and his safe return to his family in the United States. Despite having no criminal record or process against him and being legally in the United States, the U.S. government flew Kilmar, a union member and father of three, to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador known worldwide for deplorable conditions and lack of due process.

He was sent outside of the United States despite a 2019 judicial order barring his deportation to El Salvador. The Trump administration admitted that his deportation was “an administrative error”; and has ignored a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court’s to facilitate his return.

The UNI global union also encouraged activists worldwide to share a letter with the nearest El Salvadorean embassy to demand the release of Kilmar and "full due process for all other workers who have been unjustly arrested, jailed, or deported.”

Regional solidarity in display across the Americas

The Education International Latin America (EILA) member organizations where active on May 1st with their own demonstrations and mobilizations demanding funding for education, stronger democracies and education workers’ rights.

The United States and Latin American education unions have a longstanding cooperation relationship based on solidarity and the shared understanding of the importance of the stability of the individual countries for the stability of the region.

The EILA Regional Office shared messages from the Latin American Leadership: Sonia Alesso, president of the Regional Committee and General Secretary of CTERA, Argentina, Eduardo Hidalgo of ADP Dominican Republic, Isabel Olaya of FECODE Colombia, María Dolores Escobar of COLPEDAGOGOSH Honduras, and Luis Ramirez Enamorado of COPRUMH Honduras, among others.

Alesso expressed the urgency of the current global political landscape: “We, as workers from all Argentina express our solidarity with the education unions and all workers in the Unites States NEA and AFT. They are entering the schools to deport education workers and students and this represent a very clear advance of the extreme right and the fascism. This May 1st all around the world we say: Yes to education, no to deportation.”

Democracy is more than just free and fair elections

The demonstrations echoed Education International's May Day statement which called for solidarity and global action. “Democracy is more than just free and fair elections; it is about delivering for the people, not the oligarchs who pillage public resources. It is about fighting inequality, intolerance, and advocating for social and climate justice. These are survival issues that build a shared global community.”