Raleigh protesters vow to stand as ‘united working class’ against Trump policies
More than 1,000 people gathered Thursday evening in downtown Raleigh to protest President Donald Trump’s actions, criticizing policies they said have favored billionaires over working families.
They also protested policies related to immigration, funding cuts, due process rights, and the administration’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
The May Day event was part of a broader national campaign organized by a coalition of labor organizations called May Day Strong, with similar protests taking place across the country.
“Today is really just to unite all these different groups that are being attacked under the banner of May Day,” said Nicole Drapluk, 22, of Durham. “It’s more important now than ever that we stand up, fight back as a strong, united working class.”
May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, originated in the 1880s amid a push for an eight-hour workday by labor organizers in Chicago.
According to the event organizers’ website, the movement calls for increased investment in public services like education, healthcare, and housing, and opposes what they describe as efforts by Trump, Elon Musk and “their fellow profiteers” to dismantle labor protections.
The rally kicked off late afternoon as people gathered in front of a stage set up on Halifax Mall to dance to lively traditional Mexican music. The Durham Labor Choir took the stage, chanting to the tune of Chappell Roan’s hit song, “HOT TO GO!”
“Union busting has got to go,” they chanted.
“Billionaires have got to go.”
Just after 5 p.m., participants started marching from Halifax Mall towards Bicentennial Plaza, looping through various streets in Downtown Raleigh.
Protesters carried signs and chanted: “Immigrant rights” and “Workers rights.”
And, “Who’s city? Our city. Who’s rights? Our rights.”
Labor advocates criticize Trump’s actions
Drapluk, who is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, emphasized what she described as a coordinated national effort to erode labor protections — particularly for public sector employees.
Trump’s administration has taken steps that have drawn criticism from labor advocates.
In March, he signed an executive order that rolled back collective bargaining rights for federal employees in certain agencies, citing security concerns, and rescinded a federal contractor minimum wage increase, dropping the hourly rate from $17.75 to $13.30. The order affecting federal unions is currently being challenged in court.
Drapluk also denounced student visa revocations, the deportation of green card holders, and the removal of individuals living in the U.S. without legal permission to mega-prisons in El Salvador. She criticized the layoffs of thousands of federal employees.
For Carlos Magaña Perez, 23, there’s more than one reason to protest.
“There’s a ton of issues that are affecting us and I’m here to support pretty much everyone that is being affected,” he said. That includes Palestinians, members of the LGBTQ community, and people concerned about their benefits being cut.
But as a first-generation American with Mexican roots, Magaña Perez said he was at the protest to specifically stand up against “the treatment of immigrants — it’s terrible, it’s horrible.”
Trump has taken a hardline stance on immigration, pushing for reviving travel bans, ending birthright citizenship and expedited deportations. He’s also taken actions against people legally in the country, including deporting a pro-Palestinian activist with a green card and enacting sweeping terminations — many of which have been reversed — of immigration records for international students.
Alicia de Dios Fernandez, co-founder of Inmigrantes Unidos NC, said in Spanish that immigrant workers are being criminalized by policies at both the state and federal levels.
She said this has led immigrants to experience not only mental health issues but also physical health problems, as they are afraid to visit doctors.
“We’re not the criminals,” she said. “We are a community that works.”
Another focus was education policy.
“I’m extremely concerned about some of the policies that have been proposed and are currently being implemented by both the Trump administration and the General Assembly of North Carolina,” said Tammy King, a public school teacher in Raleigh.
She pointed to a North Carolina bill, sponsored by Republicans, that would shift sex education policy in schools, requiring parents to opt in — rather than opt out — for instruction that includes topics like human trafficking. King worries the change could restrict students’ access to potentially life-saving information.
She also criticized the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for shifting away from enforcing federal laws such as on education and housing rights and instead “being focused on things that aren’t real,” like “radical indoctrination in our public schools.”
Hundreds of attorneys and staff members have left the Justice Department’s civil rights division, citing efforts by Trump administration officials to abandon the office’s traditional civil rights work in favor of targeting Ivy League schools, other educational institutions, and liberal cities, according to The New York Times.
Thursday’s event was led by various labor and community rights groups.
Ryan Brown, a pastor and co-founder of Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, said he helped plan the event. His organization is part of a “small ecosystem of labor” in the Triangle, which allowed them to connect with others for the event.
Brown said he believes the country is headed in a dangerous direction.
“If there was ever a time workers needed to come together and be united,” it’s now, he said.
The protest wrapped up shortly after 7 p.m. with a final chant: “Workers united will never be defeated.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Raleigh protesters vow to stand as ‘united working class’ against Trump policies."
