Hundreds join May Day rally, march for worker's rights

Seattle - Hundreds took to the streets of Seattle during a May Day rally and march Sunday afternoon from Judkins Park to Westlake Park.  

Participants like activist Maria Giron called for more support for workers in the state of Washington.   

"We are here, to demand to the Latino organizations in Washington state, support the Latinos," said Maria Giron, activist. 

Her group said they were supporting both immigrants and labor rights.  

"Every year, they demand the money, but they haven’t done anything for our community. That’s why we are here, because we really need action," said Giron.  "We come over here to support immigrants rights and the labor workers too."

Maria Perez said they were marching to make their voices heard, support the Latin community and fight for citizenship for the DREAMers. 

Union members also joined the rally.  "For the first time you find real different changes in attitudes, people are organizing unions all over the place," said Bhaskar Srinivasan. 

Many say the unionization of some Starbucks locally and an Amazon warehouse are a sign of things to come. 

"We have to fight very hard to fight against the union busting and all the things that happen, I think we are in a new era," said Srinivasan. "For the first time, people are insisting that the workplace has to have democracy."

Speakers also read a list of shared demands including; immigration reform, the support of the rights of workers and support for the methods of organizing that fit their needs, the cancellation of rental debt and evictions, and fully funding a public health system, inclusive of everyone regardless of status. 

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"We need permanently affordable solutions to the housing crisis," said Camille Gix with the House our Neighbors Coalition.  

The House our Neighbors Coalition also collected signatures at the rally for Initiative 135, calling for the construction of "social housing" in Seattle. 

"Social housing is permanently affordable housing that is run by the community and publicly owned for very low to middle income people," said Gix.