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View from behind of a person holding a megaphone at a protest rally.

Arizonans focus Labor Day protests on ‘billionaire takeover’

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Mark Richardson
(Arizona News Connection)

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Thousands of Arizonans are expected to take part in nationwide Labor Day protests against the Trump administration. More than a dozen rallies are planned across the state, including in Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson.

Mackenzie Baris, deputy director for programs at the nonprofit Jobs With Justice, says American workers sense they’re losing some of their fundamental rights.

"We are seeing right now a full-scale attack on our basic democratic right to collectively work for better conditions through labor unions," she said.

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Word cloud for business and organized labor, with the words "Labor Union" most prominent

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The Trump administration has canceled union contracts for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, citing national security concerns. Labor groups say the administration’s "pro-corporate" policies have made it harder for workers to make ends meet and tougher for unions to organize.

Protesters also plan to highlight the impacts of the Republican megabill passed earlier this summer, with its significant reductions in public safety-net programs such as Medicaid and SNAP. Backers of the bill say changes were needed to trim federal spending and extend the 2017 tax cuts, but studies show the majority of benefits will go to top earners.

Baris said unions are fighting for Americans’ rights outside the workplace, too.

"I think we’re seeing right now unions as part of a larger movement that is standing against attacks on our voting rights, redistricting that’s meant to undermine communities’ ability to participate in democracy," she said.

The Labor Day protests come just two months after millions of Americans took part in “No Kings” protests of what they see as authoritarian tendencies by President Donald Trump. Organizers estimate more than 900 events will take place on Monday in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.