Newsletter: UCSD health care workers to join May Day actions amid hiring freeze
Plus, it’s the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and San Diego is celebrating with a packed schedule of upcoming events.
Sekon (Hello), everyone!
It’s May Day, an international observance honoring the history of the labour movement and the struggles of workers around the world.
The day was first designated on May 1, 1889 to commemorate the third anniversary of the Haymarket Riot, a violent confrontation between labor protesters and police in Chicago. As many as eight civilians and seven police officers were killed — and dozens of others on both sides were injured — after a bomb was thrown during the workers’s rally and police retaliated with random gunfire.
Today, University of California health care workers across the state — including those at UCSD La Jolla and UCSD Hillcrest — are commemorating the day with rallies, marches and other actions. The protest is a response to a hiring freeze throughout the UC system amid federal funding threats for universities from the Trump administration.
There’s an International Workers Day of Action rally and march organized by the Community Self Defense Coalition tonight in Chicano Park at 4:30 p.m. and Grape Day Park in Escondido at 5:30 p.m.
It’s also a great day to review your rights as a worker. That includes what to do if your employer isn’t paying you minimum wage, which is $17.25 per hour in the City of San Diego, $16.50 for California and $20 for all fast food restaurant workers across the state.
Since 2017, there have been 225 wage theft judgments in San Diego County, amounting to $2.93 million in stolen wages, according to a county dashboard. If you have a grievance against an employer, you can file complaints online.
And with that, let’s jump into this week’s news.
— Lauren J. Mapp
Mutual aid shifts away from airport
Mutual aid volunteers used to bring meals to the San Diego airport every day to distribute to migrants who had recently entered the U.S. and were waiting for flights to loved ones elsewhere in the country. Now that crossings have slowed, volunteers for We All We Got SD have redirected their efforts to offer the meals to local groups doing free food distribution around the county. — Kate Morrissey
She Fest steps away from San Diego Pride
She Fest announced earlier this month that it’s stepping away from a 10-year partnership with San Diego Pride. The move follows Pride’s last minute decision in July 2024 to cancel a workshop on pinkwashing, or the ways organizations try to make gains with the LGBTQ+ community without taking concrete steps to improve equality or inclusion. — Lauren J. Mapp
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Events
San Diego is celebrating Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month with a full calendar of events, from cultural festivals and art exhibits to dance workshops and history tours. — Lauren J. Mapp
Other News
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Ngày Quốc Hận (the Fall of Saigon), the last major event of the Vietnam War when North Vietnamese forces captured South Vietnam’s capital. San Diego City Council commemorated the anniversary with a proclamation last month, the Union-Tribune shared the stories of San Diegans who fled Vietnam as children in the aftermath of the war and the USS Midway Museum hosted a wreath-laying ceremony Sunday.
On May 23, Little Saigon San Diego is hosting an event recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnamese community in San Diego at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park.
Over at Capital & Main, our co-founder Kate Morrissey writes about how President Donald Trump’s nominee for Customs and Border Protection chief — Rodney Scott — is accused of aiding in an alleged agency cover-up in the killing of Anastasio Hernández Rojas.
An international human rights tribunal on Wednesday issued a decision that found border officials tortured and killed Hernández Rojas while they were deporting him in 2010 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The decision called for reparations for his family as well as repercussions for the officials involved, including those who participated in the cover-up.
Down at Southwestern College, professors are now fighting AI…with AI, Voice of San Diego reports. The campus is joining 36 community colleges in 20 districts by subscribing to LightLeap AI, a software program used to detect fraudulent applications to steal financial aid funds.
San Diego is continuing its effort to underground power lines, which officials say will better protect the city from fire risks while also minimizing power outages, KPBS reported. So far, the city has buried 400 miles of power lines, but there are still another 800 miles left to go.
Upcoming events
In a continuation of Earth Month festivities, more than 40 local environmental, social justice, labor, community and faith-based groups will participate in the Unite for Climate March to demand policies limiting the use of fossil fuels on Saturday, starting in Waterfront Park at 11 a.m.
Filmmaker Rose Sanchez is leading a Reframing the Narrative conversation with Ramel Wallace and Herman Collins on Saturday about the experiences of Black San Diegans as part of her residency with the San Diego Made Factory. The first of a three-part series on redlining — the discriminatory practice of denying loans or insurance to people in certain neighborhoods, often based on racial background — the event at Flora in downtown San Diego will also feature Black art vendors. Free tickets can be reserved online, and the event starts at 6 p.m.
On Sunday, the San Diego French Film Festival kicks off its four day celebration of Francophone films at the Lot La Jolla. Films featured in this year’s festival include “Moto Taxi (Bendskins)” from Cameroonian director Narcisse Wandji, and the French and Vietnamese film “Ru” by Canadian director Charles-Olivier Michaud.
Got an upcoming event that you’d like to add to our calendar? Head over to our website to send us the deets.
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