Liz Shuler (00:01):
And then we have Lorena Gonzalez leading our state AFL-CIO here in California. The leadership in this state is unparalleled. You are leading the way, and I can't thank the activists, the organizers, the leaders, everyone here today. It is such an honor to be standing up for working people. So what we see all around us right now, it's proof that Labor Day is our day. It's Working People's Day. We have more than 1000 events happening across this country today. That's right. Rallies and marches and parades and teach-ins. We're getting people the skills they need in this moment of crisis. And people from every background coming together to fight for the freedom, fairness, and security that we all deserve.
(00:57)
If we're here in Southern California, I wanted to be here today because the Trump Administration has made this ground zero for their attacks on working people, and we're not going to stand for it. I was in Oxnard yesterday, where just a month ago, 361 of our immigrant brothers and sisters, farm workers, were detained for no cause. ICE agents would not even show their face coming after the workers who feed America, who feed the world. Here in LA, cities nationwide, they're sending tanks to peaceful streets. I live in Washington, DC; I never thought I would see this in my city. It's wrong. We are in a crisis, folks. They are… In the meantime, what are they doing? They're gutting our services; they're gutting our jobs. 700 rural hospitals because of the Medicaid cuts. They're firing federal workers who keep our communities going, right? At the same time as they prop up greedy CEOs and billionaires who are profiting off our labor. It should not be surprising to us, but we wake up every morning thinking, "How could this be," right? And they picked right here to send a message because this city, the LA Labor Movement, it represents everything this administration is afraid of. It's full of working people who will not be silenced! No matter how they try to silence us. Working people who will stand up every single day and protect our brothers and sisters and siblings on the front lines, working people of all backgrounds who know that whether you're a farm worker, a WNBA player, a team, a teacher, a writer, a nurse, and everyone in between, we will all stand up for each other. And we all deserve to live with dignity, don't we?
(03:11)
The last thing I'm going to say, we are all living in a very cynical moment right now, aren't we? So many people are out there so cynical about our politics. They've lost faith in every institution in this country, but yet there's one institution that they still believe in, and that's unions. They believe in a union because they know that we help people build a better life, a more secure life, a brighter future for themselves and their families. So working people are going to save ourselves. So everything we've ever won, we know it has come with struggle, right? No one ever handed it to us. Right? We fought for it. Every protection on the job, the weekend, brought to you by the labor movement. It's because we fought and we won. And that's what we're going to do again. Thank you. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for your dedication to this movement. Let's keep fighting on.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Thank you. Let's give it up once again for President Liz Shuler. Next up, I'm proud to introduce the president of SEIU USWW and the California State Council, David Huerta.
David Huerta (04:32):
How we all doing? [foreign language 00:04:39]. All right. All right, all right. So my name's David Huerta. I'm president of SEIU California and SEIU USWW. We represent over 750,000 workers across the state, property, service, healthcare, the public sector, education, and many more. This Labor Day must be different. It must be a call to action because workers are under attack by this administration. And let's get it straight, brothers and sisters, if we don't start standing up now, we are not only going to be fighting billionaires, we're going to be fighting trillionaires, right? Because we're seeing and experiencing the largest transformation and transfer of wealth that we've ever seen in this country. As of October 1st, we're going to start seeing the dismantling of Medicaid and healthcare. We're going to start seeing the dismantling of food programs for the most neediest in our communities. And we're going to see the dismantling of our public school education. All of that so we can have billionaires, and so billionaires can become trillionaires.
(05:39)
And then on October 1st, they unleash one of the biggest massive increases in ICE of $170 billion worth of new ICE agents on our streets to continue to terrorize our people. We will not stand for it. Right, brothers and sisters? This day is a call to action, like I said. This day is a day when all of us as labor come together because we are a force to be reckoned with. We're a force that will continue to fight forward on behalf of working people because it's not only the fight we have right now to preserve what we have, but to make something better in the future. And that's the call of action that we have. Let's have healthcare for everyone. Let's have health for everyone, and let's make sure, damn well sure that we have a pathway to citizenship for all the people who are being targeted, not only in this city but across the country. So I say stand together. I say fight together. I say organize together. I say mobilize together. We can do this. [foreign language 00:06:38] Thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Thank you so much, David. And now I am proud to introduce the president for the California Federation of Labor Unions, Lorena Gonzalez.
Lorena Gonzalez (06:54):
Look, I'm not going to repeat it. We know, and we've heard already, the American worker is under attack, right? By big tech, who wants to eliminate our jobs; by billionaires in corporate America, who want to keep us from organizing; by a president who literally tears up collective bargaining agreements; and by ICE agents that want to actually deport workers, hard-working farm workers, and terrorize our communities. But I know something about the American worker: we are resilient as fuck. And I know that here in California and in particular here in Los Angeles, that we're not going to just stand by and allow this to happen. We are going to continue to fight. And here in California, we've shown that because we've already learned that nobody is going to save us. No political party, no president, no elected official, no offense to those who showed up. None of them are going to save us.
(07:52)
Working people are going to save ourselves. And that's what Labor Day is about. So while we're being attacked nationally, we're fighting back in California; we're fighting for everything we have. We're ensuring that our unions continue to organize. We're ensuring that we're passing legislation that has a safety net for our unions and organizing if the NLRB goes away. We are making sure that good workers finally have the ability to organize themselves and demand more at the table.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
That's right.
Lorena Gonzalez (08:25):
We are ensuring that if Texas or other right-wing states want to take away our ability to put protections around what this president does, that we're going to fight back. We're going to vote yes on Prop 50. We're going to ensure that they do not silence California. They do not silence the labor movement, and they certainly don't silence rank-and-file workers. That's what Labor Day is about. That's what the California Labor Movement is about. And we're going to ensure that every worker, whether it's a
Lorena (09:00):
… farm worker in Oxnard, whether it's a WNBA basketball player here in Los Angeles, a teacher, a Hollywood worker who we just got a film tax credit for so they can continue to work, no matter who it is in California, we are going to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight back. That's what Labor Day's about. Thank you so much, brothers and sisters.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Thank you so much, Lorena. And next, I am proud to introduce my president, the president of the LA County Federation of Labor, Yvonne Wheeler.
Yvonne Wheeler (09:34):
Good morning, sisters, brothers, and siblings.
Crowd (09:44):
Good morning.
Yvonne Wheeler (09:51):
Good morning sisters, brothers, and siblings.
Crowd (09:51):
Good morning.
Yvonne Wheeler (09:51):
Is Labor in the house?
Crowd (09:51):
Yeah.
Yvonne Wheeler (09:51):
Is Labor in the house?
Crowd (09:53):
Yeah.
Yvonne Wheeler (09:54):
As she said, my name is Yvonne Wheeler, and I'm the proud president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, representing over 800,000 union members and also most every industry in Los Angeles County.
(10:09)
Today is Labor Day. It is our day, not the billionaire's day, not the CEO's day, not Wall Street Day. This is the day that honors working people, the ones who built this country and keep it running.
(10:24)
But let me be clear. While we celebrate labor, working families are under attack. In Los Angeles, thousands of immigrant families live in fear of mass deportation. Parents are torn from their children, workers deported while billionaires get tax cuts. This is not justice. This is not America.
(10:47)
Corporate greed is at an all-time high. The same CEO who pockets millions say there's no money for raises. There's no money for pensions. There's no money for healthcare. Yet somehow there's money for a yacht and money for another private jet. Billionaires keep getting tax cuts while working people can't afford rent, can't afford groceries, and can't even afford the gas to take them to get to work for a job that doesn't pay them well or pay them enough.
(11:21)
And right now our sisters in the WNBA are in a fight for their lives, demanding a contract that pays women athletes what they are worth. If you can fill arenas, if you can sell jerseys and inspire the next generation, then you deserve dignity, respect, and fair pay. And that's what Labor Day is about. This is not just a day off, it's a day to remember that every right we have, every protection we enjoy was won by workers who refused to back down. The eight- hour workday, the weekends off, health and the safety protections, and the right to organize, all was written in struggle, all was written in sacrifice, and all was written in blood.
(12:12)
And now, just like then, the ruling class want to strip it away. They want us divided, distracted, and afraid. But let me tell you something. Workers in Los Angeles are not afraid, workers in Los Angeles are organized, and workers in Los Angeles are rising.
(12:31)
This Labor Day cannot just be a celebration, it must be a call to action. We will not stand by while billionaires cash in and working families suffer. We will not let mass deportation terrorize our communities. We will not allow greedy corporations to silence women athletes, immigrant workers, or anyone fighting for dignity and respect on their jobs. And because when we fight for each other, when we fight for our families, and when we fight for our communities, we win. So let me hear you loud and proud when I say when we fight when we fight.
Crowd (13:06):
We win.
Yvonne Wheeler (13:06):
When we fight.
Crowd (13:06):
We win.
Yvonne Wheeler (13:09):
Thank you and happy Labor Day.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Thank you so much, President Wheeler. Next, I am proud to introduce the president of ILWU Local 13, Gary Herrera.
Gary Herrera. (13:24):
Good morning everyone. Good morning Labor. Look it, I'm not going to repeat everything everybody talked about, but let's make one thing clear. Labor's under attack and we are not going to back down from anybody. There's people out there trying to get rid of our jobs through AI, through automation and through pure nonsense. They want to get rid of our collective bargaining agreements, they're not, especially here in California. California being the fourth-largest economy in the world is only that reason because of labor. One in five jobs from the men and women at ILWU, from that port comes out of Long Beach. One in nine jobs comes from LA. That's because labor makes that happen. As those billionaires are at home right now thinking that they got it good. Well, they don't know what's coming to them. We know how to organize, we know how to fight, and that's what we're going to keep doing.
(14:25)
To my men and women at ILWU, when you guys are here to the heart of the harbor right here in Wilmington and to the teamsters and to everybody you represent across this great state, we must unify and stick together. We're tired of the political parties. There's only one party. We need, the Labor Party. The Labor Party is the one that shows respect, that fights for individuals. They don't discriminate. They don't tear households apart. We build, we unite, we make lives better. So when I say who are we? I want everybody to say, "Labor. Who are we?
Crowd (15:07):
Labor.
Gary Herrera. (15:07):
Who are we?
Crowd (15:07):
Labor.
Gary Herrera. (15:12):
Special shout out to all my IOW family. Love you guys.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Thank you so much, Gary. Up next, I am proud to introduce our labor icon and State Senator Maria Elena Durazo.
State Senator Maria Elena Durazo (15:30):
Good morning sisters and brothers and siblings. On this day, on this Labor Day, we have an American president who terminated collective bargaining rights for one million federal workers. But get this, 250,000 of them are veterans. So even as Trump orders active-duty soldiers to take over our city halls, Donald Trump has gone too far. On this Labor Day, we have an American president who takes parents from their children and workers from their jobs. Masks that hide the faces of bullies cannot cover up their cowardly acts of cruelty.
(16:18)
Donald Trump has gone too far. Soldiers in the streets, racism, running wild, freedoms being lynched. And I want to mention two people in particular, Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old farmer who provided for his wife and daughter in Mexico. He worked at the Camarillo farm, died after falling from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic ICE raid. Parents like Narciso Barranco, whose three sons serve as United States Marines being violently arrested by federal agents. Children as young as nine are being detained alongside their parents and sent to private detention facilities in Texas. This is not about border security, it's about breaking the backbone of our economy and terrorizing families. The Republican Congress won't put Trump in check, the Supreme Court won't put Trump in check. Labor will put Trump in check. And one way that we're going to do that is Proposition 50. On November 4th, California workers and organized labor will put Donald Trump in check. Vote yes on Prop 50. Thank you all very much.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Thank you so much. Up next, I am proud to introduce the president of the United Farm Workers, Teresa Romero.
Teresa Romero (17:55):
Teresa Romero (18:00):
Good morning, brother, sister, siblings. Thank you for being here today. I have the privilege and honor to serve farm workers, a community that has been targeted by this administration. This administration has gone to agricultural industries where they are people wearing masks, not identifying themselves, driving vehicles that aren't marked, and they are not arresting or detaining people, they're kidnapping them. We need to stop that. The race in Ventura County, I heard people say, "Well, they found children that they're working there. They are protecting and helping children." You know what happened to those children? They were arrested. Every single one of them. Do you know what happened to adults that hire those children? Absolutely nothing.
(18:52)
We need to come together because this administration, if they are afraid of anything, is labor. We are here to keep fighting for every single one of us, and we cannot look the other way. An injury to one is an injury to all. This administration wants to divide us, and if we allow it, they win and we lose. This administration doesn't want us to trust each other, and if we allow it, they win and we lose. This administration wants us to be afraid. If we allow it, they win and we lose. So let's stick together, brothers and sisters, let's keep fighting for one another, and every time you sit at the table and enjoy your meals, please remember a farm worker. [Spanish 00:19:49]. Thank you very much.
Crowd (19:49):
[Spanish 00:19:51]
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Okay, up next I am proud to introduce the president of SEIU 721. David Green.
David Green (20:08):
Good morning, brothers and sisters, how are we feeling today? My name is David Green and I have the honor of representing a hundred thousand public sector workers in SEIU Local 721. I'm also the president of the Yvonne Wheeler fan club. It's a full-time job these days. You know, I had my talking points. I'm going to go a different direction. I'm going to talk about my sister, Mary Gutierrez. Mary Gutierrez was part of the LA fed family, she was part of the SEIU family, she passed away two days ago. She leaves a husband, she leaves a nine-month-old daughter. Her spirit is here with us today. Do you agree?
Crowd (20:58):
Yes.
David Green (20:58):
Her legacy is here with us today. Do you agree?
Crowd (21:00):
Yes.
David Green (21:02):
And it's not lost on me that the same day the chief passed away, the door opened to give gig drivers a path to unionism. 800,000 gig drivers are now on a path to become union members. So my dream is next year on Labor Day we need 800,000 gig drivers in this Labor Day parade. Do you agree? Everyone deserves a union, now more than ever. We have union presidents being snatched off the street by ICE. We have US senators being snatched off the street by ICE at press conferences. Is that fair?
Crowd (21:47):
No.
David Green (21:48):
Is that just?
Crowd (21:49):
No.
David Green (21:50):
I've never seen us face more resistance than this goddamn administration, but I've never seen us more unified and the whole time I've been involved in labor movement. Do you agree?
Crowd (22:01):
Yes.
David Green (22:01):
We are going to stick together, we're going to stay unified, because I know something happens when we fight. What happens when we fight?
Crowd (22:11):
We win.
David Green (22:13):
What happens when we fight?
Crowd (22:13):
We win.
David Green (22:13):
What happens when we stay unified?
Crowd (22:13):
We win.
David Green (22:13):
What happens when we stay together as a labor movement?
Crowd (22:15):
We win.
David Green (22:16):
Are we going to stick together?
Crowd (22:17):
Yes.
David Green (22:17):
Let's go Lobos, do this. Happy Labor Day to all of you.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Up next, I am proud to introduce our sister in the fight, president of CHIRLA, Angelica Salas.
Angelica Salas (22:31):
Good morning everybody. It is so wonderful to be here. It is so wonderful to celebrate every single working man and woman in this country today. It is also my opportunity to say thank you to the labor movement. Thank you for all my brothers and sisters who stand behind me, who have stood with us as immigrants, as this government has attacked our brothers and sisters simply for working in America. Everybody knows that this economy moves forward because of immigrant labor. One third of all workers in America are immigrants. In California, when you add their children, when you talk about their children, if you're an immigrant or a child of an immigrant, you make 50% of all workers in California. So if you're fighting for workers, you have to fight for immigrants and their families.
(23:48)
And that is what this labor movement is doing. And that is why I am so proud to stand with them. But I want also to understand that today is a painful day. It's a painful day in America. Because all over this country you have workers who are being snatched from their job. They are carwasheros who are simply doing their job, and they are snatched, they're beaten. I see women and men who are working every day to provide for their families. They're putting their children through college as day laborers. They're taking care of their entire communities, not just here, but in their home country. It cannot be a crime to work in America. It cannot be a crime to provide for your family.
(24:41)
So we have to fight together, because every time they attack an immigrant worker, it gives the boss an opportunity to exploit them. Who are you going to call when your wages are being robbed, when they're being stolen, when they tell you… Who's going to protect you when the government is after you? The exploitation of our people, it's like no other time because they're being attacked by this country, by the administration. So what I want you to know is that we do have power. We have the power of our voice. We have the power of our vote. We have the power of our heart.
(25:32)
And we must remember, we must remember, these are our brothers and sisters. They are the workers that move forward this country. They are fathers and are mothers. And together, together we can change this country so that all of us, all of us can live in freedom, and so finally, our 13 million undocumented workers who live and work in America can finally have a path to citizenship and live free with their families and live free with their co-workers, live free with their neighbors, and we will not stop until that day comes forward. [Spanish 00:26:13].
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Thank you so much, Angelica. Up next, I would like to introduce the executive director of SEIU Local 99, Max Arias.
Max Arias (26:32):
Good morning sisters, brothers, and siblings. My talking points say the same thing that we have heard. So instead of the talking points, just talk about what we must do. What are we fighting for and why we are here. Why do we say people's tax the billionaires? Why? Because we have a vision of a society in which everybody can work one job and live in dignity, raise their families in dignity, be able to have healthcare and education for their children.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
… that is why we fight. At Local 99, we represent over 50,000 education workers, and every morning, they wake up ready to protect, educate, and support the students of LAUSD surrounding districts, and the little children by child care providers. Our union lives this every day, and that is why we fight. But how do we fight the billionaires? We've heard we must fight the billionaires. We've heard about unity, but ultimately, why are they billionaires? They're billionaires because they exploit us, because they make us work for pennies, because they make us fight with each other, our scarce resources. That is why they're billionaires. They're billionaires because of our labor. Maybe it's time we taught them what happens when they don't have that labor, and they can no longer be billionaires. So this Labor Day, let it be a moment in history. When history books are being read in 50 years, let be remembered that in 2025 Labor Day, the workers in the United States realized their potential and their power, which is our labor, because when we fight-
Audience (28:17):
We win.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
[foreign language 00:28:17].
Audience (28:17):
[foreign language 00:28:21].
Speaker 5 (28:17):
[foreign language 00:28:21].
Audience (28:17):
[foreign language 00:28:21].
Speaker 5 (28:17):
[foreign language 00:28:21].
Speaker 6 (28:20):
Thank you so much. And now, to close us out, I am proud to welcome Los Angeles City Council member, Tim McOsker.
Speaker 7 (29:17):
Thank you so much, sisters, and brothers, and siblings. I am so honored to be the councilman of the 15, from Watts to the Waterfront. This is a union district, and we are saying today, "This is a union district."
Audience (29:33):
We love you, Tim.
Speaker 7 (29:35):
And we love you too. So thinking back 46 years ago, a few workers sticking up for themselves against the federal government, sticking up for their work in the refinery formed right here, formed the first labor march right here. [inaudible 00:29:50] and all the people that came before [inaudible 00:29:52] 46 years later, and they would be amazed to see the entire House of Labor from the international, to the national, to the locals, the private sector, the public sector here today, and behind us is the most amazing collection of power, and influence, and goodness in the labor movement. Let's hear for the house of labor right now.
(30:16)
Today's about labor, today is about working people. You know what it's not about? It's not about elected officials. It's not about elected officials, except for one, one guy, through arrogance, incompetence, cowardice has kind of put us on our heels just for a moment. You know why we're not going to be on our heels, we're going to lean forward, we're going to fight through this? Because of the House of Labor. When you look at my district, and you see the people that are fighting back, that are recording, that are following ICE agents, that are documenting the bad things that are happening, it is the good work of [inaudible 00:30:50], it's the good work of a lot of folks, but you don't have to dig too deep into those movements before you find union members, before you find folks, whether it's UTLA, before you find folks that are affiliated through the unity of a union, and they know that that means they fight for the workers, and they fight for their neighbors.
(31:09)
So it's not about elected officials. By the way, I just applied to be the vice president of the Yvonne Wheeler Fan Club, I'm waiting on my application to come back from David. But thank you, Yvonne, for focusing us here, and bringing us together. Thank you, Larry. Thank you everybody, and God bless the House of Labor.