KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Hundreds rallied in Kansas City for May Day Strong – 1 of more than 3,000 nationwide worker demonstrations.
The Missouri Workers Center says it organized the rally in coalition with dozens of labor, immigrant rights, faith, student and community groups.
The organization adds that the rally centered on three demands: prioritizing workers over billionaires, ending what organizers call “ICE terror” and strengthening multiracial democracy.
What Happened
Demonstrators note that they gathered at Washington Square Park – directly across from the federal immigration court – to protest immigration enforcement and a recently passed tax measure.
Organizers are calling the legislation an “Everything Task” scheme, saying it raises the sales tax on most Missourians while eliminating the state income tax for the state’s wealthiest residents.
The bill, they say, was backed by corporate-aligned politicians in the state legislature.
Workers add that earlier in the day, they stood in solidarity with Plaza Academy students who walked out of class.
Demonstrators note that they also canvassed local businesses, asking them to sign ICE Out pledges.
Hundreds gather in Kansas City for the May Day Strong rally.(Missouri Workers Center)
Organizers say Bloom Baking Company became one of the early successes – its owner agreeing to refuse entry to ICE agents.
In Their Words
Terrence Wise, a gig and fast food worker, as well as a leader with the Missouri Workers Center, emceed the event.
“This country belongs to us, not a fascist regime,” he told supporters. “If we want to take America back, we’re going to have to do what we’ve always done as working people: come together, use our strength in numbers, and take bold action to get things done together that we can’t get done on our own. I’ve been in the fight for living wages and a union for well over a decade now. I’ve seen working people make the impossible possible when we get organized. So I know that when we come together to flex our economic power, it becomes clear: this country should put workers over billionaires.”
LaTonya Sullivan, a healthcare worker at a nursing home and leader with SEIU Healthcare, also addressed the crowd.
“My nursing home residents got up every day, worked hard, and paid into this system their whole lives, just like us. And now politicians want to gut Medicaid to give tax breaks to billionaires,” she said. “Meanwhile, the people keeping nursing homes running, wiping tears and holding hands at the end of someone’s life, are women, mostly Black and Brown women, who have been underpaid because the rich don’t think care work is dignified. We built this country. Women clean it, we feed it, we heal it. And we deserve leaders who fight for us, not for the billionaires.”
Who Spoke
Additional speakers included:
Rev. Rodney Williams, Pastor of Swope Parkway United Christian Church, Tri-Chair of the Missouri Poor People’s Campaign, and Religious caucus chair of the NAACP and More2 clergy caucusMichael Vanasse, worker at City Market Coffee and Roaster and Missouri Workers Center leaderMuñeca Nieves, Member of Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR)Dontay Wilson, President of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 31 and worker at General Motors for 20 yearsMichael King, member of Decarcerate KC and teacher at East High SchoolNate Davis, member of the Kansas City Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL)Nam Vu, organizer with Sunrise Movement Kansas CityTay Castillo, organizer and activist with Kansas City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)Part of a National Movement
Friday’s Kansas City rally was one piece of a larger national mobilization. Organizers say May Day Strong events took place at more than 3,000 locations in cities and towns across the U.S.
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