In the face of escalating attacks on working people, organized labor turned out en masse for actions on International Workers’ Day – also known as ‘May Day’ – on May 1st across the Pacific Northwest. PROTEC17 members from Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, and beyond lent their voices in support of immigrants’ rights and workers’ rights, which they see as wholly intertwined.  

The rally in Seattle – the area’s largest – was held at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill and attended by over a thousand people. Following the rally, supporters took to the streets to march to the Federal Building in downtown Seattle. The annual rally and march was organized by a coalition of immigrants rights and community groups, and supported by dozens of local labor unions. 

Seattle’s action addressed several issues, from defending federal workers and the right to organize, to standing up for immigrant workers and families – particularly local workers and union leaders who have been unjustly detained. Just one month before the May Day rally, a rally was held outside of the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma to call for the release of union siblings Lelo Juarez and Lewelyn Dixon, who were still detained as of May Day. 

“As a union, we will continue speaking out boldly to protect the rights of all people, to fight oppression and racism locally, nationally, and globally, and to stand in solidarity with union members across our region,” said PROTEC17 Executive Director Karen Estevenin who attended the rally and march alongside dozens of PROTEC17 members from employers across the region, including the City of Seattle, King County, Sound Transit, King County Regional Homelessness Authority, WSDOT, Snohomish County and more. 

Earlier this year, Estevenin released a statement condeming the federal attacks, and committing PROTEC17 to working with Labor councils, community organizations, and employers in Washington and Oregon to create strategies to resist harms to working people. 

“We are committed to our values that every workplace needs to be welcoming and safe so people can do their jobs – including immigrants and refugees, women, transgender people, LGBTQ+ folks, people of all racial identities, people with disabilities, and people of every religion, or of no religion.” 

You can read the text of the full statement at: protec17.org/racial-justice.