Unions, worker groups to hold May Day demonstrations in downtown Asheville: What to know

ASHEVILLE – Local unions and activist groups are joining a nationwide and global movement on May Day, or International Workers Day, with planned protests in downtown Asheville and Hendersonville on May 1.

More than 1,000 events and protests are planned throughout the country during the “National Day of Action.” In the heart of downtown Asheville, 22 local organizations plan to gather at Pack Square Pavilion around 3 p.m. for chants, music and speakers, according to Jen Hampton, an organizer with WNC Workers Assembly and Asheville Food & Beverage United.

Speakers will discuss the privatization of public services like the U.S. Postal Service and public education, immigration issues, using federal disaster recovery funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to “build Asheville back in a more sustainable way” and “protecting our rights to organize from attempts to strip our labor rights at the federal level,” Hampton said.

“We are demanding that our elected officials stop collaborating with and promoting the billionaire agenda. In general, we will speak to the sweeping policy and budgetary actions and proposals that benefit the rich while hurting regular people at the federal, state and local level,” Hampton said.

The day of action comes on the heels of the April 5 “Hands Off” protest that drew roughly 7,500 to Pack Square Park and even more across the nation. While Hampton did not have an estimate of how many people registered for the event, she said a few hundred are expected at the Asheville rally.

May 1 events in Hendersonville, Brevard: Unions and worker groups to hold May Day demonstrations in Hendersonville, Brevard

Activist coalitions are asking rally participants to wear red, which is the color of most labor unions.

“People should bring signs to the rally that address whichever issues are most concerning to them: education funding, federal job cuts, vet services cuts, privatizing the postal service, protecting workers’ rights to organize, immigrant protection,” Hampton said.

Sponsors are organizing a bus and carpool departing from Westgate Regional Shopping Center parking lot at noon in Asheville, according to the event page. The transportation will go to a protest event in Hendersonville, scheduled for 1 p.m., then to the Asheville action.

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Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Unions, worker groups to hold May Day protest in downtown Asheville