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Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of downtown Portland on Wednesday for May Day, also known as International Workers Day, joining worldwide marches to demand stronger labor protections, livable wages and immigrant rights.
The series of labor rallies across the city, while an annual event, carried an extra resonance in the fifth month of the Trump administration, which is gutting the federal workforce. Similar events took place across the nation and Oregon—including in Salem, where Gov. Tina Kotek joined.
The first Portland event of the day was organized by the grassroots group 50501 (“50 protests, 50 states, one movement”), which drew a large crowd to Portland State University’s South Park Blocks in front of the Simon Benson House. The rally began at 1 pm and hosted multiple speakers, including representatives from Portland nursing unions and City Councilman Sameer Kanal, a vocal progressive and labor advocate, followed by a two-mile march through downtown at 2 pm.
By the time the march kicked off, the crowd had swelled to roughly 1,000 people. Demonstrators carried signs with slogans like “Healthcare over hedge funds,” “Flush the Turd Reich,” and “Housing, not homelessness,” while chanting against billionaires such as Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. One woman dressed in a mermaid costume held a sign that read “Mermaids sink fascism,” while a man dressed as Luigi took pictures and joined the chants.
Across town at Pioneer Courthouse Square, members of the Oregon chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and other local unions also gathered, rallying around workers’ rights and fair labor contracts. Later in the evening, the Portland Association of Teachers held a rally of their own in Terry Schrunk Plaza.
May Day in part commemorates a bloody workers’ strike and conflict in the 19th century that helped secure rules for an eight-hour workday. Over time, it has become a key date for labor movements around the world to demand better conditions and push back against corporate and political elites.
50501’s platform focuses on resisting what it calls a “war on working people,” citing issues such as the privatization of public services, anti-union efforts, and threats to immigrant communities. Kanal condemned the Trump administration in his speech and called out the gutting of federal programs that help the average American.
“We can’t give up now, ‘cause we got a dictator and just the worst, least qualified people running this show in DC, right now,” said Kanal in his speech. “We’ve got unelected randos taking a wrecking ball to the federal agencies and programs that Portlanders rely on from our grants to our labor protections to laying off local federal workers. Our liberation from all of this means recommitting to our civil rights, to our human rights, to our freedom of speech.”
Kanal’s biggest message was “we aren’t going back,” and cited historic moments in American resistance, including the silencing of union marches, slave labor, back-alley abortions, and internment camps.
“You’re not going back because we are going forward with purpose,” Kanal said. “As a movement in solidarity, we are going forward. My friends and I, we will fight starting right now, on this march.”
Portland police reported no major incidents or arrests from the day’s events. Organizers from multiple groups, including a local volunteer group called “Indivisible,” called the peaceful turnout a success and urged people to stay engaged in the fights ahead.