‘Workers over billionaires’: Anti-Trump protests sweep US cities amid concerns over White House policies

Thousands of people took to streets in the ‘Workers over billionaires’ protests on Monday on the occasion of the Labor Day across the United States in protest against President Donald Trump’s policies and outsized influence of big businesses in his administration.

In cities like Los Angeles and Chicago that have been singled out by Trump in his campaign against Democrats, protests were particularly intense and targeted specific policies of Trump, such as the anti-immigrant agenda and the takeover of cities with the National Guard and military.

The Hill has reported that May Day Strong, a coalition of dozens of labour and advocacy groups, said that it organised more than 1,000 protests and other events in over 900 cities. The movement has been backed by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which is the largest federation of unions in the United States and representing almost 15 million active and retired workers through more than 60 affiliated unions.

Cities that witnessed protests included New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and San Diego.

“Labor and community are planning more than a barbecue on Labor Day this year because we have to stop the billionaire takeover. Billionaires are stealing from working families, destroying our democracy, and building private armies to attack our towns and cities,” the May Day Strong coalition said in a statement.

Resistance to Trump’s excesses

Protests in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, which have been specifically targeted by Trump, were part of the resistance against Trump’s excesses.

Trump has dubbed Chicago as the most “dangerous city” and has vowed to send federal personnel soon to take over the city like he did in Los Angeles.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has signed an executive order declaring that his administration will not cooperate with any federal personnel deployed to the city, addressed the protestors and said “this is the city that will defend the country” to loud cheers, according to Reuters.

The news agency said that 5-10,000 people were part of the protests.

One of the protestors, 72-year-old Filiberto Ramirez, feared violence if additional ICE agents were deployed to the city.

“Do we feel there’s gonna be trouble? Yes. I hope nobody gets hurt,” said Ramirez.