More than 500 workers from 24 labor organizations marched on the streets between 16th Street BART Plaza and City Hall on Monday to demand rights for workers and immigrants.
The protest was part of International Workers’ Day, May 1.
While the United States doesn’t officially join the more than 160 countries in recognizing International Labor Day, immigrant workers in San Francisco’s Mission District set the tone for the day.
“We are here to take this day back for the Mission District of San Francisco, for workers, especially immigrants and undocumented workers in our communities,” Cristina Morales, a leader of the rally, told the crowd.
Taking center stage were multiple pending labor bills, including the Safety Net for All Workers Act (SB 227), which promises unemployment benefits to undocumented workers for the first time in California’s history.
Roberto Canche, a restaurant worker originally from Mexico and a member of Trabajadores Unidos Workers United (TUWU), said at the rally, through an interpreter, that he is “upset because, as an immigrant worker, he has to pay taxes, and his work is not being recognized.”
Canche, who has worked for 10 years in restaurants, said the “$300 per week, for up to 20 weeks” stipend established by SB 227 for laid-off undocumented workers is seen as a first step toward gaining recognition.
The statewide resolution was adopted unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in March, and is awaiting a May 15 response from the governor’s office to see if it will be placed on the priority list for both the state Assembly and the Senate, according to Iris Barrera of TUWU.
Domestic workers of all kinds also filled the demonstration. They advocated for SB 686, another California Senate Bill that could bring mandatory health and safety guidelines to the state’s 300,000 caregivers.
“We get injured and sick by performing our job,” said Nancy Hernandez, a member with La Colectiva, a program of Dolores Street Community Services and a domestic worker who cleans four to five houses a day. “We don’t have any protections for any of those cases, not even sick hours or time off.”
“We, as domestic workers, make all other work possible,” added Evelin Alfaro, who has spent 13 years as a domestic worker in San Francisco and is a member of the California Domestic Workers Coalition, the sponsor of SB 686. “We go to people’s homes, clean their bathrooms, clean their living rooms, leaving everything really nicely attentive looking.”
The toxic cleaning chemicals she has to use daily without protective equipment, such as gloves or masks — and cleaning unventilated bathrooms with bleach — pose a health risk to her. SB 686, which could protect her from risks at work and educate her employers about safety guidelines, passed the Labor Committee on April 26.
Steps away from Alfaro, workers chanted that “Retaliations must be stopped by workers organizing in their shops” to show support for another piece of legislation: SB 497. It would alleviate the “very serious, widespread problem” of workplace retaliation, and “will make it harder for employers to escape,” said Shaw San Liu, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA). SB 497 does not require employees to prove that retaliation occurred. Instead, it “will put the burden of proof on the employer to show that it was not retaliation.”
Other participants were Mission residents who expressed support for the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients and families. Since 1990, TPS has granted rights to immigrants from seven countries with unsafe conditions to reside and work legally in the United States. The Trump administration tried to end TPS, while the Biden administration proposed to expand TPS protections and a path to citizenship to holders.
“Papers for all!” they chanted.
Currently, TPS recipients are protected until June, 2024.
The rally today also sought to highlight the conditions for immigrants who are held in detention centers. “We will not stop until every single border concentration camp is shut down!” and “Nations have no borders,” people chanted.
In celebration of the International Workers’ Day, marches also took place in Sonoma, Santa Rosa, the South Bay and elsewhere.
The march. Photo taken by Yujie Zhou, May 1, 2023. 
The march. Photo taken by Yujie Zhou, May 1, 2023. 
The march. Photo taken by Yujie Zhou, May 1, 2023. 
The march. Photo taken by Yujie Zhou, May 1, 2023. 
Domestic worker Evelin Alfaro and Megan Whelan, associate director of the California Domestic Workers Coalition. Photo taken by Yujie Zhou, May 1, 2023.
¡Sí se puede! y ¡Viva la Causa! ✊🏿 “You have nothing to lose but your chains.”