Gainesville Activists Protest at Depot Park for International Workers Day
The 50501 Movement held protests across the nation Thursday for International Workers Day.
Over 100 protesters led by 50501 GNV, Indivisible and Gainesville Women for Democracy gathered at Depot Park to take part in the Mayday protest.
Former City Commissioner and 50501 GNV member David Arreola was one of the main organizers of the protest and introduced speakers from various activist groups.
Alachua County Labor Coalition member Tyler Forrest said, “All across this country, working people are rising up and demanding the respect they deserve. They deserve it because working people have built this country…. They used to send the National Guard to crush striking miners. They would beat them. They even killed some of them. But our forefathers did not back down, and neither will we…. Without organized labor, there is no middle class. Without unions, there is no justice at work. Without solidarity, we are nothing, but with solidarity, together we are unstoppable…. This is about taking what we have earned: fair pay, safe jobs, respect, and a future that is worth fighting for. They got the money, but we have the numbers. They’ve got the lawyers, but we have all of us. When we stand up, nothing can stop us.”
Alachua County Labor Coalition member Tyler Forrest speaks to protsters (GnvInfo)
Co-President of UF Graduate Students United Cassie Urbenz said the University of Florida (UF) told them verbatim, “They’re not willing to spend more money” for graduate students. Urbenz said, “We had extreme police brutality when fighting for an eight-hour workday…. The things we’re asking for are not unreasonable.”
Alachua County Commissioner Anna Prizzia said, “We’re literally fighting for children to not have to go back into the factories. We’re going back in time now…. We’re reminding our country what this country is founded on, the people who built this country from the ground up. That’s our immigrants, that’s our workers, that’s our laborers; we’re all apart of that movement.”
County Commissioner Anna Prizzia speaks to protesters (GnvInfo)
Students Demand Action member Ramsey said, “I would say I proudly attend UF, but this pride is long gone. Last Friday, UF gave in to Gov. Ron DeSantis' demands and halted the search for a new dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Why? Because a Twitter account called ‘Commies on Campus’ ‘blew the whistle’ and labeled the finalists for that position as ‘radical DEI hires.’ Apparently this was enough for Gov. DeSantis to intervene in the process.”
At the conclusion of the protest, Arreola announced, “We will be protesting once a month every month until Donald Trump and JD Vance are out of office.”
More information about 50501 GNV is available on their Instagram.
