On Labor Day, September 1, 2025, the usually tranquil Centennial Park in Salida, Colorado, buzzed with energy as around 230 demonstrators gathered for the Workers Over Billionaires rally, according to Ark Valley Voice. The event, organized by Ark Valley Indivisible, was part of a broader, nationwide movement championing workers’ rights—a topic that took on an even sharper edge as the holiday approached. Protestors’ signs ranged from calls for economic fairness to demands for transparency in high-profile cases, illustrating the movement’s wide-reaching concerns.
The rally, while largely peaceful, was not without its friction. Some local businesses on the south side of Highway 50, wary of the potential impact on their operations during the crucial Labor Day weekend, placed signs that read, “Protestors permitted on the other side of the street only.” The intent was clear: keep the sidewalks in front of their shops open for customers, especially on a day when sales traffic can make or break a month’s revenue. Yet, both demonstrators and a small group of armed counter-protestors ignored these signs, staking their place on the south sidewalk—including directly in front of the Sinclair Gas Station.
As the crowd swelled, so did the tension. At one point, business employees approached both groups, asking them to relocate. The situation grew particularly heated when Kat Lovato, a 74-year-old demonstrator, crossed the street to stand in front of the Sinclair. A local employee confronted her, and their exchange quickly escalated. Lovato repeatedly asserted, “get out of here,” while the employee retorted, “Where you put your sign is not your property.” Lovato fired back, “It is our property,” highlighting the confusion over public versus private space—a debate as old as protest itself.
Salida police were soon called to the scene. Amid the din of highway traffic and rallying cries, an officer clarified the rules: demonstrators could remain on the public right-of-way—the sidewalk—so long as they didn’t block business entrances or exits. This intervention seemed to calm matters momentarily, but the underlying friction between free expression and commerce lingered.
Local business owners and employees voiced their concerns candidly to Ark Valley Voice. One employee worried that the presence of protestors out front would drive away customers, especially on Labor Day, a vital shopping day for local businesses. “I asked nicely not to protest in front of the Sinclair which creates sales tax revenue for the city,” she said, adding, “I was here two weeks ago on that side with them, but they shouldn’t be on this side in front of a business that depends on Labor Day traffic.” She also noted that customers might not even see the store entrance because of the crowd, regardless of their views on the protest’s message.
Another pressing concern was safety. The employee described frequent incidents of drivers running red lights and nearly hitting pedestrians, a risk made worse by large gatherings on busy sidewalks. “There’s two things we try not to get involved in. Politics and religion,” she added, emphasizing the business’s desire to remain neutral. “The business doesn’t want to be associated with either side.” She admitted to losing her temper during the confrontation with Lovato, a moment of candor that underscored the day’s emotional toll.
Lovato, for her part, was unwavering in her commitment to the cause. She described the act of protest as a “righteous cause,” telling Ark Valley Voice, “What is happening now, because I work in mental health and work for the Department of Public Health, and I worked for people with major mental illnesses and brain disorders, to lose Medicaid for those people now, at the whim of the wealthy, to have people who are completely entitled take over Social Security… They’re losing funding in Monte Vista and all through the valley, and it is shocking.” She continued, “It is a terrible thing because there are truly no jobs, and the indigenous people are losing their homes for the first time after fighting and keeping their property for hundreds of years are having to leave. This administration is so terrifying to me. There is not a concern given.”
Lovato also objected to what she saw as an attempt to curtail protest rights: “They are using public land … to tell people they are not allowed to protest. It is our right and our obligation.” She explained that she brought her grandchildren to the rally’s start, hoping to inspire the next generation to fight for not just their own rights, but for others as well. “So I am here as a native, indigenous, Hispanic woman who did go out and become educated, so that I could stand here in a free country and activate for their rights. That’s it.”
Salida Police Chief Russ Johnson, when contacted by Ark Valley Voice, explained that his department’s priority was keeping the peace and ensuring that protestors did not obstruct business driveways. “In one of the last events on the highway, there were reports of people blocking entrances to certain businesses,” Johnson said. To address this, he reached out to event staff and business owners to clarify the rules, emphasizing that protestors could be anywhere in the public area provided they did not block access. Johnson added, “Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, that’s the beauty of living in our country. . . At the end of the day, every person controls their actions. And, if they would use their actions for positivity and good and allow each person to express their feelings and their beliefs in a way that is cordial, that would be best for everybody in society and our community.”
The local story in Salida unfolded against a national backdrop of escalating tensions over workers’ rights. Just days before Labor Day, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at stripping collective-bargaining rights from federal employees at agencies such as the National Weather Service and NASA, as reported by HuffPost. The order, which invoked a “national security” exemption, built on a previous March 2025 executive order that targeted bargaining rights for about 1 million federal workers.
Federal unions are now challenging the order in court, arguing that many affected workers—such as nurses and park rangers—have no national security function. Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, which represents NASA workers, called the timing of the order “particularly upsetting” just ahead of Labor Day, a holiday meant to honor the U.S. labor movement. “The Trump Administration has doubled down on being the most anti-labor, anti-worker administration in United States history,” Biggs said. He noted that bargaining rights for NASA civil servants “extend back to the 1960s.”
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, pointed out that some agencies affected by the order have already been “hollowed out” by previous cuts, forcing them to hire hundreds of new workers to fill vacancies. Kelley described the executive order as “another clear example of retaliation against federal employee union members who have bravely stood up against his anti-worker, anti-American plan to dismantle the federal government.”
The federal government’s moves have drawn sharp criticism from union leaders and workers alike, who see them as part of a broader campaign to undermine labor protections and weaken the voice of public employees. The White House, meanwhile, has made no secret of its view that federal unions are a political adversary, stating in a fact sheet, “Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda.”
In Salida and across the nation, this Labor Day was marked not just by celebration, but by a renewed sense of urgency among those fighting for workers’ rights—on the streets, in the courts, and at the highest levels of government. The day’s events served as a vivid reminder that the struggle between workers and those in power remains as fierce as ever, and that the right to protest is, for many, not just a privilege, but a duty.
