LOS ANGELES — May Day demonstrators are taking to California streets, calling for immigration reform and improved wages and working conditions for workers.
Students, workers, labor officials and religious leaders plan to march in downtown Los Angeles Thursday.
Protesters are offering support for legislation under consideration by Congress that would overhaul laws and bring many of the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally out of the shadows.
Who's ready to march today?! Meet @ #SanDiego City College @ 2pm! #MayDay2014 #MayDay
— May Day 2014 (@MayDaySanDiego) May 1, 2014In San Diego, a May Day rally and march was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at San Diego City College.
At San Diego State University, protesters are addressing fee hikes, known as "student success fees," which they say puts an unfair burden on already debt-strapped students.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, May Day rallies are planned in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.
KTVU-TV reports that protesters in Oakland painted signs that read, "Stop Police Violence" and "Stop Deportations" ahead of a planned rally. A rally in the city two years ago turned violent, with police using tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse protesters.
In Los Angeles in 2007, dozens of protesters, police officers and reporters were injured when a May Day protest turned violent.
May 1st – International Workers’ Day – is a traditional day of protest for labor rights.
