SEATTLE — Demonstrators marched through downtown Seattle in support of worker and immigrant rights on May Day.
El Comité says International Workers Day on May 1 is “a day of unity and collective community power to support our most needed people.”
During the annual event, teachers, labor workers, immigrants, women’s rights activists and LGBTQ+ people typically march through Seattle.
"The rights of workers need to be prioritized because they get taken advantage of," said Tricia Schroeder, president of SEIU Local 925, which represents thousands of workers in education, local government and nonprofits.
What is May Day?
In most countries, May 1 is known as International Workers' Day or Workers' Day. In the United States, it's often a day for protests and commemoration to remember the struggle for the rights of working people, according to the University of Washington History Professor James Gregory.
Its modern roots worldwide trace back to a string of violent events in Chicago in the late 19th century, as unions pushing for fair working conditions began advocating for the eight-hour workday with strikes and demonstrations nationwide.
Other groups, like anti-capitalists, anti-fascists and anarchists, plan their own May Day events, too. They each have their own reasons for observing the day. Those gatherings, which don't have city permits, usually happen at night.
In the early 2000s, May Day often involved violent clashes between anarchists and police. In 2015, nine police officers were injured and 16 people were arrested after a May Day riot on Capitol Hill.
As a result, Seattle police have added additional crowd control management training, and the department was called to review its use of blast balls on the public and explore other forms of crowd control.
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