Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered at rallies all over the country to demand stronger worker protections and criticize a range of policies taken by US President Donald Trump’s administration as the Labor Day holidays approach.
On Monday, more than 1, 000 demonstrations are anticipated to take place in every one of the 50 states under the slogan “Workers Over Billionaires.”
Under the Trump administration, protesters want more federal oversight, fully funded schools, affordable housing, and better worker protections. They also want an end to corporate corruption, attacks on marginalized communities, and federal overreach.
In New York, hundreds of people gathered outside Trump Tower to chant “Fascist” and forbid Trump from resign. Workers chanted signs for a living wage and access to healthcare as the brass band played.
Minimum wage
Giovanni Uribe, a member of One Fair Wage, told Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey that he had spoken out against billionaires who are robbing away workers’ rights.
He claimed that “the backbone of New York City is New York City.” The National Restaurant Association is our number one adversary, fighting to keep the subminimum wage in place so that they don’t have to pay their employees the minimum wage in order to survive. We are simply asking for a living wage, then.
Due to the successful lobbying of industry groups, the federally mandated minimum wage in the US is $7.25 per hour, which has not been raised since 2009. A federally mandated “subminimum” wage of $ 2.13, which was established in 1991 and is legally offset to the $7.25 minimum, is used by tippers, like waiters, to offset wage theft, according to advocates.
While some states have higher minimum wages, such as New York City’s, which are frequently much lower than the national minimum wage (currently, $16.50).
A single adult without children would need an hourly wage of nearly $33 to cover typical basic living expenses, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator. The state minimum wage in Mississippi is $ 20.75, nearly three times the minimum wage, making it one of the lowest living costs in the nation.
National Guard is the target of protests in Chicago.
Thousands of people demonstrated in downtown Chicago to protest Trump’s pledge to take Chicago as its next target in a move similar to those being considered for Los Angeles and Washington, DC, two other Democrat-run cities.
In a speech to the crowd, Mayor Brandon Johnson declared Chicago would resist federal intrusion.
He declared, “This is the city that will defend the country,” and protesters yelled out loud as they waved Chicago flags in blue.
As the crowd whizzed through the city, some marchers walked dogs and carried kids around on their shoulders, and outsiders at nearby cafes and restaurants poured their fists and honked their cars in support.
Trump’s threat to send the National Guard and additional US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents out piqued the protesters’ concerns.
Filiberto Ramirez, 72, feared reprisals if additional ICE agents arrived in the city. Do you think there will be trouble? Yes, Ramirez said. “I hope nobody suffers any harm.”
In recent weeks, Trump has criticized Chicago for having “a mess,” a “hellhole,” and a “killing field” for violent crime. However, Chicagoans who attended the demonstration claimed on Monday that they did not believe the National Guard was a city-wide crime stopper.
The National Guard is supposed to fight for us, not against us, according to Yvonne Spears, 67, but “there is a crime problem.”
According to city crime data, murder rates in the third-largest city in the country have decreased recently. And while a survey conducted by the University of Chicago in 2025 indicated that the majority of Chicago residents felt largely safe in their neighborhoods at night, many protesters on Monday acknowledged this.
City and state leaders have already prepared plans to avert federal troops in Chicago. A deployment, according to legal experts, would violate both the US Constitution and a 19th-century law that forbids the military from enforcing domestic laws.
“Women Over Billionaires”
While protesters may be attending rallies for a variety of reasons, Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy and former adviser to Vermont’s US Senator Bernie Sanders, said that many of their financial concerns are likely to overlap.
There are “a number of shared concerns,” he said, “in addition to the cost of basic goods, groceries, the cost of education, and the perception that Americans have lost control over their economic and political lives and futures.”
Trump, a real estate scion, is a billionaire and has loaded his administration with billionaires. He came to power on a platform that in part tapped into the frustration of the public.
Elon Musk, who is most well-known, served as Trump’s top adviser before quitting due to a disagreement.
Source: Aljazeera
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