By Fighting Words Staff
On May 1, 2025, people gathered at Roosevelt Park in Detroit to rally and march in defense of the rights of workers and oppressed peoples locally, nationally and internationally.
The event began with a rally featuring speakers from the trade union movement representing the UAW Region 1; the Sheet Metal Workers Union; Graduate Employees Organizing Committee (GEOC) at Wayne State University; American Postal Workers Union (APWU); American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3239; the A. Philip Randolph Institute; among others. Community organizations were well represented with speakers from the United States Palestine Community Network (USPCN); African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA); Detroit Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability; General Defense Committee (GDC); Michigan Welfare Rights Organization (MWRO); and cultural workers Julie Buetel; Sarah Torres; and Dai Dreaming.
The event was co-chaired by Abayomi Azikiwe and Yvonne Jones of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition.
Leading a march that went past the ICE building and the McNamara Federal Building in downtown Detroit was a banner calling for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was illegally deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration. The banner was from the Sheet Metal Workers union, whose members carried it at the front of the march.
The demonstration was covered by a number of media outlets including Fox 2, WDIV (Channel 4), Detroit Free Press, WWJ News Radio, Peoples World, etc. This year May Day demonstrations were held at 1100 locations throughout the U.S. Internationally workers held events throughout Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
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