A prominent labor union and organizers for Saturday's "No Kings Day" protest Thursday urged Angelenos and Southern California residents to participate in several demonstrations planned across the region against the Trump administration.
During a news conference downtown, officials with Service Employees International Union Local 721, representing public service workers in SoCal with more than 100,000 members, called on residents to show up for rallies scheduled to take place nationwide with several planned in the L.A. region. Union representatives emphasized the importance of mobilizing and resisting the Trump administration.
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"The Los Angeles community will show the Trump administration and our great nation that we have no kings, and I repeat, no kings in this country," Martin Manteca, organizing director of SEIU Local 721 and the California Gig Workers Union, said. "We are a nation of laws, of fundamental human rights and of basic decency. We will not let a petty wannabe dictator rip apart our communities, take away our rights and hurt our neighborhoods."
"We will not let this administration harm working families so its billionaires and oligarch friends can get richer and take control of our government," Manteca added.
Manteca and other union representatives joined SoCal 50501, organizers of the "No Kings Day" protest, to also highlight the importance of organizing.
Several speakers criticized the Trump administration's aggressive policies on immigration, as well as Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities and states, among other issues.
"L.A. has been hit hard by this administration. The administration has sent masked men in combat gear to kidnap children from schools, question and snatch neighbors off the streets, assault and take workers from Home Depots, car washes, stores and restaurants," Manteca said.
He believes that union organizing has and will continue to lead the "resistance movement."
Manteca noted that some SoCal unions partnered with social and community organizations to launch a summer resistance program, which have led rallies, protests, and called for boycotts of businesses that have supported federal immigration enforcement actions.
"We will continue to support and advocate for our immigrant communities and working people across this country. We will not back down," Manteca said. "I shared this because I want us to remember that when we come together and fight back against the billionaires, oligarchs and wannabe dictators, we can win. I call on everyone in the LA area to join the resistance and fight back."
In June, Californians participated in the "No Kings Day" protest, which occurred on the same day as a celebration of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary. According to the No Kings organization, more than 5 million people nationwide protested during that event.
The organization bills itself as a "peaceful, national day of action and mass mobilization" responding to "the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration."
Saturday's rallies are scheduled across more than 200 cities and places in California with 10 events in Los Angeles.
During a speech on Oct. 15, President Donald Trump, in reference to Democrats, said "They have their day coming up. I hear very few people are gonna be there, by the way. But they have their day coming up and they want to have their day in the sun."
A representative for the Republican Party of Los Angeles County did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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