The Pasadena rally, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., is one of more than 20 other Southern California communities holding similar events and among more than 765 coordinated actions across the country organized by the May Day Strong coalition, a partnership of labor, political and environmental organizations.
Local groups San Gabriel Valley Foothill Indivisible and Rooted in Resistance are coordinating the event, which organizers say will include at least 300 registered participants and 19 safety monitors equipped with walkie-talkies.
The demonstrations follow an Aug. 22 Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation at a Pasadena car wash that resulted in six workers being taken into custody.
“ICE is making people afraid to go to work. We have fewer street vendors, and some people are avoiding their jobs because they’re afraid ICE is going to come after them,” local activist Caroline Mays told Pasadena Now.
Rally organizers said in a statement: “Working people built this nation, and we know how to take care of each other. We won’t back down—we will never stop fighting for our families, our rights, and the freedoms that ensure everyone has a better life.”
Pasadena-headquartered National Day Laborer Organizing Network responded to the car wash raid by saying, “This cruel enforcement action will be met with love, courage, and collective power.”
May Day Strong, which previously organized over 1,000 events across all 50 states on May 1, describes itself as “working people rising up to stop the billionaire takeover — not just through the ballot box or the courts, but through building a bigger and stronger movement.”
The coalition’s platform includes stopping “the billionaire takeover corrupting our government,” protecting social programs like Medicaid and Social Security, advocating for fully funded schools and universal health care, stopping “attacks on immigrants, Black, indigenous, trans people,” and redirecting government spending from military to social services.
Labor Day, observed annually on the first Monday in September, was first celebrated in 1882 in New York City. Congress designated it a federal holiday in 1894.
In his Labor Day proclamation, President Donald Trump wrote, “From the earliest days of our American story, our Nation’s future has been molded by the skill, determination, and unwavering resilience of the American worker.”
City Hall offices will be closed Monday in observance of the holiday. Attendees should expect potential traffic impacts in the downtown area during the event.
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