Newark Activists Demand ‘Economic Justice’ At May Day Rally

NEWARK, NJ — At the start of every week for years, the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) has held a “Justice Monday” rally at the Rodino Federal Building on Broad Street in Newark. But on May 1, the group took a slightly different approach, dedicating their effort to the “economic needs of working and poor people.”

On International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, POP members came together to stand in solidarity with working people around the world. The annual celebration grew out of the 19th-century movement for labor rights and an eight-hour workday in the United States.

Hoisting signs that read “We Want Economic Justice” and “Workers Need Higher Wages,” the group called for increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour, passage of legislation to facilitate unionization, ending racial discrimination in hiring and promotions, and providing “equal pay for equal work.”

Other demands included “fair contracts,” the establishment of a living wage in the U.S., paid sick leave for all workers, universal child care, Medicare For All, free college, elimination of student debt, and the creation of a national federal jobs program to eliminate unemployment.

“We felt it was important to add our voice to those demanding economic justice for working people all around the world,” said POP founder and former U.S. Senate candidate Lawrence Hamm.

“This year May Day fell on a Monday so we decided to combine it with our Justice Monday protest against police brutality that takes place every week at the federal building,” he added.

Unfortunately, the struggle against economic injustice and police brutality sometimes go hand-in-hand, the POP says. According to a social media post from the group:

“Although May Day, a day to celebrate and appreciate organized labor, began in the United States, it became the International Day of Solidarity for all organized labor outside of the United States. It is observed all over the world. It was originally launched on May 1, 1889 to honor workers who protested in what became known as the Haymarket riot of May 4, 1886 in Chicago where a peaceful protest for an eight-hour day, the right to organize and better worker conditions at the plant Chicago descended into violence. It marked the beginning of a national campaign for the eight-hour work day. It was picked by labor organizers as International Workers Day and shortened with the tag May Day as it began to be acknowledged broadly for labor rights and worker solidarity. Police brutality will also be lifted up because in the fight to establish the right to organized labor, it was abusive police force that was used to attempt to repress that movement, including the Haymarket incident, just as it was used to later to attempt to repress the Civil Rights Movement.”

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