Equal rights, abortion rights and freeing unjustifiably imprisoned immigrants were just a few of the issues discussed on International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day. May Day 2025 started on a sunny, clear day at Cal Anderson Park May 1 at noon. 

Over 20 organizations, with the Latino Community Fund serving as the fiscal sponsor, contributed their efforts to putting together the rally. Their demands include, but are not limited to, shutting down the Northwest Detention Center and abolishing ICE, a free Congo, Sudan, Palestine and all occupied territories and ending attacks on immigrants. 

Protesters were gathered at the park with signs defacing President Trump, Tesla and Vice President JD Vance. Other signs showed support for the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants and Palestine. Groups were tabling on the side to promote small organizations to help spread awareness of a variety of issues. They would hand out flyers to whoever was interested in their cause, as well as signs to march with.

Gary Tolman is in the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP), one of the tabling groups, which is a feminist, working-class organization advocating for labor rights and solidarity amongst working-class people. Tolman discussed the significance of May Day in Seattle and internationally. 

“May Day is a labor holiday in Europe. It’s a big deal. I used to live in Italy, and they shut down on May Day because it’s a workers’ rights day. A part of why we’re here today is because, historically, May Day has been pretty big in Seattle. Used to be a big organization for labor. In fact, they had a general strike at the turn of the 20th century, where all the people got together and had a general strike to really fight the system to make sure that workers got fair wages and fair work,” Tolman said.

Tolman believes that people must stand up for the working class, especially after Trump signed an order to end union bargaining rights for vast swaths of federal employees. This was signed as part of his broader campaign to reshape the U.S. government’s workforce.

Other protesters were concerned about the rights of immigrants. Many immigrants have had their protections against deportation revoked, including the dismantling of Biden’s CBP One policy that allowed migrants to schedule appointments at legal ports of entry. As the administration continues to carry out deportations and question whether immigrants deserve due process, May Day encapsulates the effort to resist the dehumanization of those Trump is targeting.  

“We’ve been told for a long time that we’re not that important, and the only reason that people, the elites, have power is because we let them have that power. And I think now’s the time to take that back from them and have it for ourselves,” Tolman said. 

The event started to shift into a march around 1:40 p.m., where the rally started heading downtown Seattle, eventually ending up at the Seattle Social Security office. The protesters chanted, “When workers’ rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand-up fight back!” 

Susan Han, a protester at the rally, had come to advocate for all the voices that needed to be heard. Having had a father-in-law who was a Jewish refugee in Austria, she relayed how he is currently seeing what had fallen in front of him as a boy all over again. Hans’ message is to keep the momentum of rebellion moving forward and to push back against injustice.

”I feel like people are realizing that it’s time that we unite and that people are getting it, you know. And we’re standing up and speaking loud,” Han said. 

Another protester in attendance was Shimona Moreno, an executive director at the climate justice organization 350 Seattle. With a president who pledged to deport nearly 14 million undocumented immigrants and an administration that has detained student visa holders and green card holders while now offering financial incentives for migrants to voluntarily leave the U.S., Moreno views these acts as attacks. She is standing up for all immigrants, especially her mother. 

“My mother’s from Mexico and as a Mexican American kid, brought up here, I understand the everyday of what it feels like to be hated by basically a whole country that hates you, and so I don’t want to take that sitting down and where I’m gonna get up every day I’m gonna fight every day in support of my community,” Moreno said. 

A day to fight for the power of labor and to uplift the voices of the oppressed holds a new significance under the Trump administration. The May Day rally allowed Seattle citizens to express their outrage against the drastic political shifts occurring in America.