Atlanta, GA – Labor organizers, students and community members gathered for a May 4 panel commemorating May Day and bridged the gap between organized labor and the fight against deportations. Reflecting on the origins of May Day in the Haymarket Affair and its subsequent revival in the U.S. with the 2006 Day without Immigrants mega marches. Attendees left the event charged up and ready to fight the anti-worker and anti-immigrant agenda of the Trump administration, both on the shop floor and in the streets.

Panelists spoke extensively on the interconnected nature of their movements. Adelina Nicholls, the executive director of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) said, “Immigrants are workers as well. When attacks happen to our communities, we cannot stand fragmented. A blow to immigrant workers is a blow to all workers.”

The use of detention and deportation as a means to repress and intimidate communities is happening regularly now. Unions have stepped up to defend their rank and file against these attacks like in the case of Rümeysa Öztürk, a SEIU member whose union launched several national days of action in their defense.

The panel concluded with a call to action, urging attendees to carry forward the spirit of May Day through advocacy, education and community organizing.

The panel was hosted by the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression and joined by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council, Malaya Movement, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and members of the Amazon organizing committee of Teamsters Local 728.

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