LaborFest was established to commemorate the 1934 San Francisco General Strike when two workers, Howard Sperry, a striking longshoreman, and strike supporter Nick Bordoise were killed on July 5, which is known as “Bloody Thursday”.  Today, the attacks on labor and all our democratic rights are escalating with even a rightwing insurrection and attempted coup at the US capitol.

Working people are living in a new and more dangerous, deadlier world. More than 600,000 people have died in the US from a virus that should have been contained. Hospital workers, bus drivers, grocery workers, postal workers and delivery workers had no choice but to continue working even without proper PPE in many cases, and this has even been more deadly for Black, Brown and immigrant workers.