This Friday, May 1st marks International Workers' Day, and in true form San Francisco is stepping up with a series of events. This year's theme is Workers Rising for Dignity/Migrants Against State Violence.

The first of May has long been a day to recognize the efforts of our country's workers and to voice support for labor rights movements. The day's roots date back to the Great Depression the late 1800s, when workers united to rally for an eight-hour workday.

In 2006, May Day was chosen as a yearly day of protest by many immigration reform groups, which rallied in solidarity to denounce the H.R. 4437 bill, a strict piece of legislation.

Last year's protests in San Francisco included construction workers in Hayes Valley who protested developments that were not using unionized labor. 

Tomorrow, Civic Center will see protests supporting both workers and migrants rights.  From 1pm-3:30pm, a festival will take place at Civic Center with live entertainment, speakers, music and poetry. Different groups will be tabling at the event and helping to promote immigrant and workers' rights bills and organizations.

At 3:30pm, a march will begin that will lead people from Civic Center to 24th and Mission, where a closing program will take place from 5-5:30pm. March organizers are calling for legalization for undocumented immigrants, and an end to deportations, while also dovetailing with "the struggle of Black communities against state-sanctioned violence in the U.S." 

Finally, a celebration of working people's victories is being organized by Young Workers United, a Tenderloin organization that seeks to improve the quality of jobs for workers in San Francisco. The event will take place from 6-9pm at Virgil's Sea Room (3152 Mission St.).

Local Tenderloin nonprofit La Voz Latina is actively participating in this year's May Day celebration. Program Manager Kelly Guajardo told us the group chose to get involved because "the fight for worker’s rights and migrant justice issues are crucial to the health and safety of our community. We are workers, parents, students, immigrants, and Tenderloin residents and we are marching for dignified working conditions and wages, for the right to live without the looming threat of deportation or detention, and for an end to state violence against Black and Brown communities."

But Kelly also points out that a lot of progress was made in the past year. "There are victories to celebrate," she says, "such as increases in minimum wage, AB1522 (statewide act for paid sick days), AB60 (CA state driver’s licenses for all residents regardless of immigration status), and the (pending) extended DACA and new DAPA programs which could provide administrative relief to millions of people across the country."

For cross-Bay commuters, be aware that Oakland will also be holding May Day events. One group is organizing a May Day #ShutItDown event that is working to "shut down oppressive infrastructure everywhere."  Morning commutes at McArthur BART may be affected, and an evening anti-capitalism rally will take place at Latham Square (Broadway and Telegraph).