Demonstrators flock to more than a thousand anti-Trump 'Workers Over Billionaires' events on US Labour Day

On Monday, hundreds of thousands of anti-Trump protesters took to the streets in more than 800 cities and towns across the US for Labour Day demonstrations. Called "Workers Over Billionaires", it was one of the largest mass mobilisations against the president since he took office in January.

Among the main demands of organisers were an end to the billionaire takeover of the government; protection of social welfare programmes; funding for schools, housing and healthcare; an end to attacks on immigrants and other marginalised communities; and investment in people over wars.

In San Francisco, around 4,000 demonstrators marched through the Mission District, a historically Hispanic neighbourhood and a hub for worker and immigrant rights. Wearing union attire, keffiyehs and holding signs in support of workers, they made their way from the train station to Dolores Park, as labour leaders led chants in English and Spanish.

"We have to do what we can because the wheels are in motion," Chris Lockheed, a local activist, told The New Arab, referring to growing government crackdowns. “Your life will never be the same.”

In addition to attending protests, Lockheed hangs anti-Trump banners on highway overpasses as a way to reach more people.

Standing nearby, Kiwi Illafonte, a local graphic designer, said he came out to the demonstration to support workers and also to make an international connection to local issues.

"I'm here in solidarity with immigrant workers, undocumented workers who are being targeted right now. Making connections with organisations like ICE and the IDF in Israel-Gaza conflict and the terror they're causing over there," he told TNA.

"I'm a brown person in America," added Illafonte, who was raised by Filipino parents in Los Angeles. "Seeing what's happening in Los Angeles, those are my neighbours, those are people in my community being attacked. It reminds me of the same kind of bullying that’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank right now."

Another protester, Clay Rosenthal, said he had come to the demonstration to support labour rights.

"I'm here to galvanise the labour movement to be more inspired today in these troubling times when we need more organisation, and we need more labour rights as they're getting dismantled," he said to TNA. He worries that unions in the US could become illegal if current crackdowns continue.

In May, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order to exclude unionisation of federal workers if their work is considered related to national security, though this could include most agencies. The president has also fired commissioners responsible for the protections of labour rights, leading to widespread concerns over the future viability of unions in the country.

Over the past seven months, Trump has passed legislation that redistributes funding from public services to favour the wealthy; he has sent federal agents on raids to detain immigrants, often at their workplaces; his newly imposed tariffs will make prices higher for average Americans; he has sent the National Guard to police Washington, DC and has threatened to do so in other cities.

Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Chicago, what appears to be Trump’s next target for a military deployment, has signed an executive order to block immigration raids and protect Chicagoans if the National Guard is sent to his city.

"We're gonna defend our democracy in the city of Chicago. We're gonna protect the humanity of every single person in the city of Chicago," said Johnson in his speech at Monday’s Labour Day demonstration in Chicago.

This summer has been the busiest time for protests since the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. The number of anti-Trump protests has far exceeded those in his first term, though the gatherings are often smaller.