US workers protest racial inequality on day of national strike

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of workers rallied Monday outside the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan and in cities across the United States to protest systemic racism and economic inequality, joining a nationwide demonstration demanding improvement of Black Americans’ experiences in the workplace.

Organisers hoped the effort would grow into a strike inspiring tens of thousands of people to walk off the job. But visible support for the effort came largely in the form of smaller protests that drew people whose jobs in health care, transportation, and food service do not allow them to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

The “Strike for Black Lives” protest was organised by labour unions and social and racial justice organisations, which planned a range of actions in more than two dozen US cities. Where work stoppages were not possible for a full day, participants picketed during a lunch break or observed moments of silence to honour Black lives lost to police violence, organisers said.

About 1,500 janitors in San Francisco walked off their jobs and planned to lead a march to City Hall later in the day, according to Fight for $15, a labour group that supports raising the U.S. minimum wage to $15 an hour.

McDonald’s cooks and cashiers in Los Angeles and nursing home workers in St. Paul were also striking, the group said.

Participants in local rallies included delivery men and women, fast food employees, ride-share and airport workers.

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