Oregon Labor Day rallies zero in on wealth inequality

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Protesters took to the streets around Oregon and Southwest Washington on Labor Day in opposition to the Trump administration’s agenda and attacks on immigrants across the country.

As part of ongoing protests happening across the country, spearheaded by the May Day Strong Coalition, the protests filled the Portland Waterfront, SE Portland, Vancouver, Oregon City and Corvallis.

“The people who work so hard for us to have food, for us to have places to live, for us to have decent communities, we need to take care of the people who make that happen for us,” rally-goer Patricia Keeny said.

Many looked to draw attention to wealth inequality. That can be combatted with living wages for workers, fair hours and work-life balance.

“All of those things are important to keep workers productive and successful and to be able to participate in the economy in the country overall,” said rallier Manuel Mendoza. “It shouldn’t be all of the wealth concentrated at the top. That doesn’t make the country great, that doesn’t make the country strong.”

And events like these rallies and marches are what America is built on, Mendoza said.

“People expressing their opinions, exercising their freedoms, freedoms that are protected. You know, if you don’t like this message, sorry, but this is a message that is valid, just as valid and just as worthy of support and just as worthy of demonstrating over as any other message.”

Workers over Billionaires

Over the weekend, other protests happened around the Portland area, including one outside Clackamas Town Center.

At the Clackamas event, Laurie Davis with Indivisible, another group working to organize protests, said that the United States is slowly being changed by Project 2025 and that many people aren’t paying attention to it.

“What has been quite skillfully done is Project 2025,” Davis said, “that the big impact will slowly kick in, and most people aren’t paying attention to the lost funds now, like SNAP. But if we don’t have people, we’re losing our country.”

Stay with KOIN 6 as we continue to cover the ongoing protests.