NYC May Day protest marches on Jeff Bezos’ home

New York, NY – Around 400 people gathered in Union Square on a sunny afternoon of May 1, International Workers Day. Dozens of organizations based in New York came together to not only celebrate workers and our struggles, but to call for the general demands of unionizing and organizing all workers, immediate asylum for all migrants, abolishing ICE and stopping police terror.

Union Square is historically a symbolic location for the New York City labor struggle and has been the home of countless May Day rallies.

There was a 2-and-a-half hour program of speeches and cultural performances before the crowd marched to Jeff Bezos’ home. As the founder of Amazon, multi-billionaire Bezos draws the anger and frustration of many workers as he’s hoarded more wealth than anyone in history. The march was led and endorsed by Amazon workers who are planning to start a unionizing drive in the city.

The event ended with a few more speeches, highlighting the role police crimes play in the repression of workers, immigrants and oppressed nationality communities. Collin Poirot from the New York Community Action Project said, “We know the police are used to terrorize these communities, and we know every dollar in the police budget is a dollar that could be spent on healthcare, housing, education and jobs for working-class people. That’s why the New York Community Action Project is calling for complete community control over every single aspect of how the NYPD operates – from their budget to the weapons they carry – and the way to make that happen is with a CPAC, a Civilian Police Accountability Council.”

The organizations that endorsed and partook in this year’s May Day were: Acción Revolución- Ecuador, Art Against Displacement, BAYAN USA, Call to Action on Puerto Rico, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists NY, Comité Timón de Personas y Familias Capítulo NYC, Congress of Essential Workers, December 12 Movement, Defend Democracy in Brazil, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Guyanese American Workers United, Jornaleros Unidos, International Action Center, International League of People’s Struggle, Laundry Workers Center, MoMA Divest, Mov. Vamos a la Peña del Bronx, Mujeres por la Paz NY, New York Boricua Resistance,New York Community Action Project, Partido da Causa Operária / Comitê de Luta NY, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Pakistan USA Freedom Forum, Peoples Organization for Progress ProLibertad Freedom Campaign, Teamsters Local 808, The People’s Forum, Workers Assembly Against Racism, Workers World Party.