A PROCLAMATION IN HONOR OF INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ DAY 2024
WHEREAS International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, is recognized around the world as a day to honor and fight for working people’s rights; and
WHEREAS May First was selected as the date to honor working people and continue the campaign for an eight-hour workday that led to the general strike in 1886 and other actions by working people; and
WHEREAS International Workers’ Day continues to be a celebration of the efforts of the working and middle class in the United States and around the world to organize for improved working conditions and rights; and
WHEREAS persisting gender and racial pay gaps are a sobering reminder of how far we have to go towards achieving equal rights and fair wages for all working- and middle-class people; and
WHEREAS President Biden was the first sitting president to walk a picket line on September 26, 2023, and emphasized economic issues of importance to working- and middle-class people of all generations, as well as social issues, in his 2024 State of the Union address; and
WHEREAS 2023 was a year of renewed union activity with the successful United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) strike at Stellantis, successful strikes of the entertainment industry by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA), and efforts to organize retailers such as Starbuck’s and REI while Space-X, Starbuck’s, Amazon, and Trader Joe’s have launched a suit to render the National Labor Relations Board impotent when the ability of the Supreme Court to act as a fair and impartial referee has been severely degraded; and
WHEREAS labor unions play a vital role in ensuring a strong working and middle class by advocating for fair pay, humane and safe work conditions, improved benefits, and increased civic engagement by working people to advance and protect the rights, economic opportunities, and security of working and all people; and
WHEREAS Contra Costa County is home to more than 110,000 union members representing more than 85 unions in various trades and industries;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County joins in the worldwide celebrations of workers’ rights activism taking place on May 1, 2024, and acknowledges how working people are the vital heart of every workplace, industry, and community; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County calls upon all elected officials to join efforts to ensure the rights of all working people are protected and that government at all levels, as well as civil society, actively promote and protect the rights and economic security of the working and middle class.
Approved by the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, April 18, 2024