Abdiqani Ali, a rideshare driver with the Rideshare Driver Organizing Committee of SEIU is met with applause from the crowd after speaking about his experience working at MSP.
On Labor Day, hundreds of workers from over 20 Minnesota unions and community organizations rallied at the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) International Airport. They called for improvements to the lives of working people, and slammed policies that favor billionaires and corporations. The rally was held at the airport in order to highlight Delta’s lack of worker protections while donating millions of dollars to the Trump inauguration.
The rally was accompanied by a live brass band called Unlawful Assembly, and several hundred community members marched through a drop-off area of Terminal 1. Many rally-goers held homemade signs expressing anger towards the Trump administration and demanding better working conditions for airport workers across sectors.
According to a statement from the coalition, the rally’s demands include fair wages, healthcare, and union rights for airport and rideshare workers, corporate accountability from companies like Delta, healthcare for all, fully funded schools and social services, an end to immigrant scapegoating, workers’ right to organize and bargain, and taxing billionaires.
Workers from various unions throughout the airport were present at the rally, including flight attendants, security workers, baggage handlers, wheelchair agents, janitors, and rideshare workers. The rally was organized by both unions and community groups, including the Minnesota AFL-CIO, SEIU Local 26, SEIU Healthcare MN & IA, Teamsters Local 320, UNITE HERE! Local 17, Education Minnesota, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, New Justice Project, Tending the Soil, Women’s March Minnesota, and more.
Last spring, the coalition of unions and community organizations also organized a march for May Day at the Capitol Building in St. Paul, Minn. to honor the radical roots of May Day, as well as march against what they characterize as the Trump administration’s attack on workers and immigrant communities.
The Labor Day rally began with a speech from Pat Gore, a Delta worker and member of Delta Workers United. “The working class has been under severe attack,” said Gore to an energized crowd. Delta Workers United is a part of the effort to win a union for Delta flight attendants. Gore went one to say that Delta workers want to “Match their peers in the industry” and gain workers protections through union representation.
Abdiqani Ali, a rideshare driver with the Rideshare Driver Organizing Committee of SEIU, shared that rideshare drivers at MSP are demanding that the airport invest in a facility with a washroom for rideshare drivers as they wait for rides at the airports. Ali also stated that rideshare workers would like to have a space for prayer “For Muslim drivers, there is nowhere to pray except the dirt in the summer and the snow in the winter,” Ali shared.
The rally was a part of a national day of action. Labor Day marches were organized across the country, from Chicago to New York to Los Angeles, reaching all the way to the states of Alaska, Maine, and Hawaii. In a statement from the Chicago Teachers Unions, organizers state that the coordinated efforts “will show working people standing together demanding a city, state, and country that puts “workers over billionaires” and stands up to the Trump-led billionaire takeover of government and defending the rights of all people.”
Federal workers were also present at the rally and spoke to the crowd about attacks on federal workers’ right to organize. Earlier this year, the Trump administration unilaterally suspended union contracts with Transit Security Association (TSA) workers. Speakers warned of possible attacks against landmark legislation, like the National Labor Relations Act, in order to weaken worker protections and bust unions for federal workers.
Neal Gosman, a TSA worker with The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 899 told the crowd, “There are two ways to earn wealth: take it or earn it. We earn it. We, who travelers trust with their lives, we earn it.” Gosman went on to say, “We work and provide wealth. We organize with our coworker, we make democracy in the economy. Tax day is the holiday of the wealthy. Labor Day is the holiday of the rest of us”.
Isabela Escalona
A marching band accompanied the marchers at the Labor Day rally at MSP Airport.
Isabela Escalona
Marchers hold signs that read, “Rage” and “Uber/Lyft Drivers Demand Fairness”. Rideshare drivers in Minnesota are organizing for union representation and a facility for drivers to use the washroom and pray.
Isabela Escalona
Marchers hold signs that read, “Worker’s Labor Day”, “I Am Delta, Our Voice, Our Voice”, and “Congress: Stop funding billionaires”.
Isabela Escalona
A marcher holds a sign that reads, “We rise for care, dignity, and justice for workers”.
Isabela Escalona
Marchers carry signs outside of Terminal 1 at MSP airport that read, “Protect kids, not guns”, “Abort unwanted presidents” and “Trump must stop trampling workers rights”.
Isabela Escalona
Marchers hold signs that read, “Eat the rich”, “F— this American Dream”, and “Just no”.
Isabela Escalona
Pat Gore, a Delta worker and member of Delta Workers United kicked off the rally’s program with a message of worker solidarity across the airport workers from flight attendants, to janitors, and rideshare drivers.
Isabela Escalona
Abdiqani Ali, a rideshare driver with the Rideshare Driver Organizing Committee of SEIU is met with applause from the crowd after speaking about his experience working at MSP.
Isabela Escalona
A group of rideshare drivers with the Rideshare Driver Organizing Committee of SEIU cheer together. The workers are organizing for the right to a union in Minnesota.
Isabela Escalona
Workers with UNITE HERE Local 17 cheer at the Labor Day rally.