Hundreds of people took to the streets of Springfield Thursday evening as part of a march and rally for International Workers Day, often called May Day. It was an event to empower workers, but also to protest actions by the Trump administration in it's first 100 days.
Demonstrators paraded from the post office in downtown Springfield to City Hall, calling for more worker power and stronger union protections for laborers in the region.
Declan Kennon is with the Springfield Education Association, which is currently in contract negotiations with the school district, and participated in the march.
"Springfield teachers are here today not just for our struggle, but in solidarity with the struggle of all workers in Springfield. Because we recognize our common destiny, we fight together or we all lose," he said.
Though the event focused on labor — there were people holding signs representing various issues, from immigration advocacy to LGBTQ+ rights. Many joined the march to protest the Trump administration.
Thursday's rally was part of a series of nationwide demonstrations for May Day.
Riley Hernandez participated in the local march, and said it's important that workers see how much power they have together.
"I hope that this leads to a position where workers understand their worth and understand the importance of collective action," he said.
Organizers say the work doesn't end with May Day and they'll continue to fight for labor rights in the region and the nation.
Just one hour before the rally, unionized visiting nurses with the Massachusetts Nurses Association held their own rally outside of Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.
Participants called on the health system to provide more competitive pay rates. This comes a year into negotiations for a contract — that union representatives said — have stalled out over wage increases of $1 an hour.
Liz Grasso is a visiting nurse with Baystate, she said because it's taken so long to finalize their contract, nurses missed out on raises that other employees have already received.
"We just want what's owed to us, what everybody else got in our own building. We have nurses in the building that we work with that got 3% raises last year. We got nothing," she said.
Nurses also said the home health care sector is struggling with staff shortages. A 2023 survey from the state found that almost half of registered nurses working in home health left their jobs within a year.
In a statement, Baystate Health said the picketing nurses "provide tremendous care to the patients in our communities" and said they are committed to negotiating a fair contract in good faith.
