![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/85930051007-20250901-vpc-workers-over-billionaires-protests-kick-off-thumb-00-00-00-19-still-004.jpg\"\/)
![\"play\"](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\nProtests have begun nationwide over Trump, billionaires<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
‘Workers over Billionaires’ Labor Day protests underway nationwide<\/p>\n
Labor unions and activists rally in cities across the country in “Workers over Billionaires” protests.<\/p>\n
Labor unions and community activists are gathering for mass protests on Labor Day<\/a> hoping to remind Americans of the power of the working class at a time when billionaires are playing an outside role in national politics.<\/p>\n Large crowds have turned out at rallies and marches in major cities including Boston, Chicago and New York for the first of more than a thousand “Workers Over Billionaires\u201d events planned nationwide. Event organizers declined to provide official estimates of the number of people attending the Labor Day protests across the country.<\/p>\n Rallies in big and small cities on\u00a0Labor Day and the surrounding days<\/a> are part of an effort to keep the momentum going from other mass demonstrations and keep pressure not only on President Donald Trump, but also the billionaires who support or benefit from his administration.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to show that there is opposition to the Trump-billionaire agenda in every community big and small, it\u2019s not just cities that are united against what\u2019s happening\u2026 it\u2019s all towns, it\u2019s small towns that voted overwhelmingly for Trump,\u201d Saqib Bhatti, executive director of Action Center on Race and the Economy, told USA TODAY. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to show the opposition is there in all these places.”<\/p>\n On Aug. 28 the White House did not respond to a request for comment on the protests. Instead, it provided a quote from Vice President\u00a0JD Vance<\/a>\u00a0about Democrats not voting for the GOP tax and spending bill and a quote from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s press briefing about Labor Day.<\/p>\n “President Trump believes that American workers are the heart and soul of our economy and our national identity, which is why he\u2019s championed an agenda that puts them first always,” she said.<\/p>\n The events, which are locally organized and tailored to local concerns, are led by labor organizations, including\u00a0the AFL-CIO<\/a>, national advocacy groups such as\u00a0May Day Strong<\/a>, Public Citizen and Indivisible and dozens on local advocacy groups. Some began late last week, others will continue throughout the first week of September.<\/p>\n Hundreds gather outside Trump Tower in Manhattan<\/p>\n Several hundred protesters have gathered on 5th Ave. across the street from Trump Tower. They are occupying the sidewalk and for the most part being kept away from Trump tower by NYPD. Chants are being lead by organizers and a brass band. There are chants of \u201cNew York is a working town.\u201d<\/p>\n Large crowds gather in Tallahassee<\/p>\n Organizations across Tallahassee held a \u201cWorkers Over Billionaires,\u201d protest<\/a> mobilizing to demand just wages, benefits and appreciation for workers across the Big Bend. The protest took place on the steps of the Florida Historic Capitol Museum.<\/p>\n The Tallahassee event, hosted by the Big Bend\u00a0chapter<\/a>\u00a0of the AFL-CIO, brought large crowds to Florida\u2019s capital city for the protest, including politicians, unions and those supporting the mission.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we celebrate labor today \u2013 our workers \u2013 we celebrate each and every person who rolls up their sleeves and digs in to make this country great,\u201d Leon Classroom Teachers Association member Shari Gewanter said to the crowd.<\/p>\n Protestors throughout the event held signs in support of workers’ rights and against Trump, with messages similar to those of the \u201cNo Kings\u201d\u00a0protests<\/a>\u00a0from June. The Rise Up Singers, a local\u00a0group<\/a>\u00a0of music-driven activists, also took to the stage to rally the crowd, singing lyrics to encourage mobilization.<\/p>\n Throughout the protest, cars driving along South Monroe Street noticed the signs lining the street and honked their horns in solidarity with the crowd.<\/p>\n Boston kicks off first-ever Labor Day Parade<\/p>\n Organizers in Boston kicked off the city’s first-ever Labor Day Parade<\/a> with a rally in front of the State House<\/a>, leading the crowd in chants of “union power.” The event, <\/a>which was expected to feature speeches from Mayor Michelle Wu and Governor Maura Healey, will be followed by a march to City Hall Plaza along a “powerful route that honors the victories of the past.”<\/p>\n Boston is one of almost 30 towns in Massachusetts, including on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, that planned to hold\u00a0Labor Day protests<\/a>\u00a0against President Donald Trump and the billionaires who support him.<\/p>\n Chicago mayor to join Labor Day rally<\/p>\n Meanwhile in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to join demonstrators for a Labor Day rally and march<\/a> that started at the city’s Haymarket Memorial. A speaker told the crowd the march would take the group to Target, a Tesla dealership and Valor Equity Partners, which was founded by Antonio Gracias, a former high-ranking DOGE volunteer.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in Chicago, groups including the Chicago Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union gathered at Heritage Green Park for a rally opposing President Donald Trump\u2019s threats to send federal agents to the city, The TRiiBE <\/a>reported.<\/p>\n Rally underway at South Carolina State House<\/p>\n Demonstrators also gathered in front of the South Carolina State House ahead of a march on Sept. 1, according to a livestream of the event captured by local media.<\/a> A demonstrator dressed in what appeared to be an orange prison jumpsuit, shackles and a mask made to look like Sen. Lindsey Graham briefly appeared on stage alongside speakers including faith leaders and organizers, eliciting boos from the crowd.<\/p>\n Demonstrations are planned in at least 10 South Carolina cities,<\/a> including Greenville where groups will gather at Unity Park from noon to 2 p.m.<\/p>\n Local groups, including 50501 SC, the Greenville Progressive Coalition, and Indivisible Upstate SC, are also organizing “Bridge the Gap Upstate” on Labor Day. This is a coordinated action to drop banners and signs from highway overpass bridges across the state while many travel the roads for the long weekend, according to an event flyer.<\/p>\n Barbecues<\/p>\n Several of the events are designed to incorporate families and show off what unions do. Some are festivals and parades rather than marches and rallies, though hundreds of those are scheduled as well.<\/p>\n Organized Power In Numbers Executive Director Neidi Dominguez told USA TODAY that organizers want \u201cto do something that clearly says we\u2019re in a different moment right now and out communities are hurting and we have to be turning out and showing up for each other in this moment more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n Organizers in Madison, Wisconsin, are hosting Labor Fest 2025 on Madison Labor Temple grounds. There will be live music, food trucks, and children\u2019s events, as well as a collection drive for students in families who are homeless.<\/p>\n In Shoreline, Washington, there will be sign-waving and a march as well as a Back-to-School Drive to collect supplies for local students.<\/p>\n In Sioux City, Iowa, the Sioux City Education Association is joining the NW Iowa Labor Federation picnic.<\/p>\n Some of the involved organizations also helped set up the other large-scale protests of the summer, including\u00a0No Kings Day<\/a>\u00a0in June and\u00a0Good Trouble Lives On<\/a>\u00a0in July.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing sort of a rush toward authoritarianism, we\u2019re seeing military occupations coming to our cities,\u201d he said. Protests are \u201cvery much needed at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Billionaires<\/p>\n Some of the protests and rallies will target particular corporate actors \u201cthat are really helping drive the authoritarian agenda,\u201d Bhatti said.<\/p>\n That includes people and companies that have donated to Trump\u2019s political action committees, those who worked for Elon Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency or who have financially benefited from moves by the Trump administration. Some events include marches or rallies outside their homes.<\/p>\n Contributing: Bella Carpentier<\/a>, Greenville News; Michaela Galligan and Margie Cullen<\/a>, USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Protests have begun nationwide over Trump, billionaires ‘Workers over Billionaires’ Labor Day protests underway nationwide Labor unions and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[9559,23,414,275,28081,14299,10962,2250,35295,54813,21369,24903,15995,2091,4688,1929,55115,32611,19770,34645,3,13470,34647,25245,111,80209,2564,80210,25244,25249,24899,10822,79595,13692,15557,21,19,22,20,25,24,15186,48412],"class_list":["post-125628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-afl-cio","tag-america","tag-and","tag-day","tag-democratic","tag-democratic-party","tag-employees","tag-events","tag-holiday","tag-holiday-marketplace-hub","tag-holidays","tag-holidays-u0026-seasonal-events","tag-hub","tag-international","tag-issues","tag-labor","tag-labor-day","tag-marketplace","tag-n4n-news","tag-negative","tag-news","tag-overall","tag-overall-negative","tag-party","tag-politics","tag-protesting","tag-protests","tag-protests-and-protesting","tag-republican","tag-republican-party","tag-seasonal","tag-service","tag-service-employees-international-union","tag-u0026","tag-union","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-work","tag-work-u0026-labor-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}