May Day: SF workers, students march against war in Gaza

Several hundred workers, students and their families gathered at the 24th Street BART plaza in S.F.’s Mission District Wednesday to mark this year’s International Workers Day. While advocating for critical local needs like fair wages and affordable housing, protestors also called for international solidarity with Palestine.

“Viva! Viva! Palestina!,” chanted Guillermina Castellanos, a labor organizer and founder of La Colectiva de Mujeres, from a pickup truck using a microphone in front of demonstrators. The rally hosted similar calls for worker and immigrant solidarity against the war in Gaza, as demands for a ceasefire recently intensified across university campuses in the Bay Area and nationwide. “We are all brothers of the fight – the fight continues and continues.”

Today’s May Day will conclude with multiple rallies and demonstrations across the region, including a plan to disrupt and shut down the Port of Oakland in the evening.

Hundreds of protesters rallied against the war in Gaza at the 24th BART Plaza in the Mission District during International Workers Day in San Francisco, Calif. on May 1, 2024. Photo: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local

Jim Martinez, 67, chants with hundreds of demonstrators at rally at the 24th BART Plaza in the Mission District during International Workers Day in San Francisco, Calif. on May 1, 2024. Photo: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local

A group of organizers lead hundreds of demonstrators during a march on Mission Street in the Mission District for workers’ rights and to protest the war in Gaza in San Francisco, Calif., on May 1, 2024. This year’s May Day comes at a time where university encampments protesting the Gaza war have swept across the country, resulting in unrest and violence. Photo: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local