JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Labor Day marches were held across the country today from small towns to major cities. Some of the largest protests were held in Chicago. Labor unions organized the main march there, but it expanded to include opposition to President Trump saying he'll send in federal agents and possibly the National Guard to enforce immigration laws and make the city safe. WBEZ reporter Mariah Woelfel joins us from Chicago. Hi there.
MARIAH WOELFEL, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So Mariah, I understand that several city leaders addressed the crowd, including Mayor Brandon Johnson, and I heard he's pretty fired up.
WOELFEL: Yeah, Johnson really thrives at political rallies. You know, he cut his teeth as a teachers union organizer. And he started his speech shouting, and he ended his speech shouting. And, you know, as the president threatens to send in military force to apparently fight crime and enforce immigration in Chicago, Johnson sounded as if he was preparing for battle. You know, he really sees Trump's threats to send in military force as a threat to the Constitution himself, and that was - the Constitution itself, and that was apparent in his remarks.
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BRANDON JOHNSON: Are you prepared to defend this land, this land that was built by slaves, a land that was built by Indigenous people, a land that is built by workers? Are you prepared to defend this land?
WOELFEL: You know, Johnson really sees the unified labor movement as this clapback to Trump's cuts to Medicaid, even, to SNAP, his deportation campaign. And this is really in line with Johnson's overall politics that many of the divisive issues in our country, according to him, come down to this war between workers and billionaires who he argues exploit labor and worsen the wealth gap in our country.
SUMMERS: Now, Mariah, you were out there in the crowds, talking to people. What did you hear from them about why they decided to come out and march today?
WOELFEL: Yeah, so many people came from different corners of the city, from young, leftist organizers to pro-Palestinian organizers to older generations of union workers who see Trump as a threat to good-paying labor jobs - you know, groups of people who locally may have disagreements and different interests but were united today. And the energy was just sort of off the charts. And I think, you know, frankly, doing this on Labor Day was a smart way for organizers to merge all of these causes. Chicago is a huge labor town. And the march started at the Haymarket Memorial, which is a monument in honor of the victims of the 1886 Haymarket bombing that targeted a pro-labor demonstration. And protesters kind of said fighting against Trump policies and celebrating Labor Day go, quote, "hand in glove."
SUMMERS: It sounds like there were a lot of different concerns really on people's minds out there. Was there any one message that sort of cut through?
WOELFEL: You know, the biggest concern and, obviously, the most urgent one I heard was that they don't want the National Guard in the city. You know, I spoke with one protester, John Kelleher, who's a building inspector and longtime Chicagoan, and this was the message that he said he wanted Trump to hear.
JOHN KELLEHER: Well, No. 1, that we don't need the National Guard in Chicago. We haven't historically, and we don't now. The police can handle it. Chicago cops are the best. And that labor is a force to be reckoned with.
WOELFEL: You know, this was also just a general outlet for people disturbed by some of Trump's policies across the board, including his campaign against immigration. And I asked people whether they're worried that actions like this will actually provoke the president to send the National Guard into Chicago, but almost everyone I spoke to said, you know, the president is going to do what he's going to do and that Chicagoans don't really, you know, shut up in the face of threats. So I think there was this general pride around expressing what...
SUMMERS: Right.
WOELFEL: ...They see as Chicago's values.
SUMMERS: That was WBEZ reporter Mariah Woelfel in Chicago. Thank you so much.
WOELFEL: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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