LOS ANGELES, May 2, 2008 – May Day demonstrations and marches were held throughout the region yesterday. Two marches converged downtown at 5th and Broadway in the late afternoon. An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people took part in the downtown demonstrations. Although not as large as the past two years the marches were described as festive and high spirited. Immigrant rights was the primary focus of the demonstration, but other issues such as the Iraq war were featured as well.
Scattered student walkouts and sit outs also took place at a number of local high schools. Dockworkers at the port of Los Angeles staged a one day strike that halted port operations for the day. The dockworkers’ strike, which included all west coast ports, was called by the workers to protest the continuing US war on Iraq.
Reports from the newswire: Workers/Immigrants March Rally in LA on May 1 by AJLPP | | Venice High School Students Walk out of Class by Marcus | | May Day Time Line by LA-IMC
| |
May Day Strike Against the War Shuts Down All U.S. West Coast Ports by Internationalist Group
| |
MARCH AND RALLY FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS! by AJLPP
PHOTOS: Marcha Primero de Mayo by Oliver Santana | | MAY DAY 08 in LA by Marcus
| | MARCH AND RALLY FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS! by AJLPP
VIDEO: ¡Afuera Con La Migra! May Day Video & May Day March in Downtown. Video by Que Chido
From Democracy Now: Report on dockworkers' strike
In related news: Did Google Block ILWU Web Page?
Video report from Oxnard: May 1, Oxnard : Farmworkers, Longshoremen, and Youth Take to the Streets by FCR-VC
MAY DAY ACTIONS CITYWIDE: Port Shutdown, Student Walkouts, Downtown Marches