On August 28, 2025, the streets of Washington, DC, pulsed with chants, banners, and a sense of unity as more than 400 workers and supporters gathered for the "Solidarity Season Rally and March." Organized by the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO, the event served as the unofficial kickoff to Labor Day weekend, reminding the city—and perhaps the nation—that "workers make DC run and deserve better than mass firings, union busting, deportations, and occupation," as reported by nuzeink.
From the outset, the rally's message was clear: this was not just a one-off protest. According to Sam Epps, President of the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO, which represents 150 local unions and 150,000 workers across DC and Maryland, the action was "only the first step in organizing not just for one day, but to build labor power across the district, in every shop floor, school, restaurant, and municipal and federal building." Epps called for "people power, union power and a free DC," and issued a pointed critique of the Trump administration, which he accused of causing the highest unemployment rate in the nation in DC for three consecutive months by firing federal workers. "Workers over billionaires," Epps declared, urging the crowd to "fight for those who have been attacked by this administration."
Throughout the rally, the emphasis on solidarity was unmistakable. Epps condemned the arrest of delivery workers at METRO stations and traffic checkpoints, calling it "wrong, period!" and asserting that those approving such tactics "are on the wrong side of workers and the wrong side of history." His solution was unequivocal: "The way to stop this is through collective action."
Ottis Johnson Jr., National Vice President of the 14th District of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), echoed these sentiments, refuting the narrative that DC is a "crime-infested city"—a storyline he said was "a distraction meant to scare people and to pull union workers away from issues that matter to our members." Johnson pledged, "AFGE will always fight for our members. Whatever this administration throws at us, we are going to throw it back at them even harder. We fight smart, we fight together, we fight with the law, we fight with the facts, and with our solidarity. They want headlines, we want results. They want photo ops, we want contracts that lift people up, they want us to be quiet, but we are just going to get louder."
As the rally drew to a close, Epps delivered a final message to the administration: "Respect the workers who make America work. Because we are ready, we are organized, and we are coming. Let’s get back to work and, release those Epstein files!" The crowd then marched from Dupont Circle across the city, stopping first at Whole Foods to loudly call for a boycott of both Amazon and Whole Foods, companies owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos. The choice of target was symbolic—Bezos had recently spent between $47 to $56 million on his Venetian wedding, a display of wealth that sparked protests in Venice itself. According to nuzeink, protesters in Venice held signs reading "No space for Bezos," decrying what they saw as a vulgar display of excess and an affront to their city.
The march continued to the doors of Le Diplomate, a popular French restaurant in DC where workers have been striving to join Local 25 Union of hotel, restaurant, and casino workers. The protesters occupied the busy street outside, urging patrons to boycott the restaurant, which is part of the STARR Group—one of the largest independent restaurant groups in the country, founded by CEO Steven Starr. The group owns more than 40 establishments across several states and in Paris.
During the rally, a woman who has worked in the kitchen at Le Diplomate for four years shared her experience, speaking in Spanish. She described feeling disrespected at work and recounted an incident where she was struck hard on the shoulder by a chef. More strikingly, she noted that "the cost of a hamburger at Le Diplomate was more than she earns in an hour." Now pregnant, she said she is fighting not just for herself but for her baby’s future, seeking a living wage and affordable health insurance. Her testimony was a powerful reminder of what’s at stake for many workers in the hospitality industry.
As protesters formed a picket line and circled the restaurant’s entrance, effectively shutting it down during the dinner rush, two counter-protest waiters stood behind a police barricade holding "No Union" signs. Their efforts, however, were largely drowned out by the crowd’s chants and signs accusing the restaurant chain of union-busting tactics and "unjust working conditions."
The events in Washington, DC, are part of a broader tradition of labor solidarity that stretches far beyond the city’s borders or even recent memory. Looking back to 1981, Glenn Fubler, Ellen-Kate Horton, and Dale Butler led a historic push in Bermuda for cross-union solidarity. In response to a hospital members strike, they convinced the Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) to stage a one-day solidarity strike in support of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU). As Fubler wrote for Imagine Bermuda, "The BUT strike on May 5, 1981, represented a paradigm shift for Bermuda as it was the first strike action involving employees from one union supporting another union." Nearly 200 members, led by elders such as Eva Hodgson and Lorraine Fubler, marched from Bernard Park to Union Square, joined unexpectedly by the Electricity Supply Trade Union from Belco—a "healing moment" for the island’s union history.
That spirit of solidarity soon extended beyond local struggles. On June 26, 1981, South Africa Freedom Day, a picket was organized in Bermuda to protest the Bank of Bermuda’s involvement in a loan that violated United Nations sanctions against apartheid South Africa. Most of the 30 participants were BUT members, and the event laid the groundwork for the formation of the Bermuda Anti-Apartheid Coalition in the years that followed.
Fast forward to 2025, and the call for solidarity remains as urgent as ever. Around the world, unions and people of conscience are expressing support for the people of Gaza, which international bodies such as the World Court, International Criminal Court, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have determined is facing genocide. The South African Government, despite its own domestic challenges, has taken a leading role in seeking justice through the World Court. The late Desmond Tutu, reflecting on his visit to Israel more than a decade ago, said the circumstances faced by Palestinians were "far worse" than those endured by Black South Africans under apartheid.
On this Labor Day, Fubler and his colleagues urge the Bermuda Trade Union Congress and unions everywhere to "reaffirm an essential commitment to solidarity—at home and abroad." As they put it, "If not now, when?" The lessons of history, from DC to Bermuda and beyond, suggest that solidarity isn’t just a slogan—it’s the foundation for real change.
Labor movements, whether in the heart of the nation’s capital or on a small island, have always depended on the courage to stand together. As workers in DC and Bermuda have shown, that courage can move mountains—or at least, shut down a restaurant or two on a busy evening.