AOC, Sanders Lead Massive LA Rally Against Oligarchy

By Mark Friedman, Member International Association of Machinists

Nearly 40,000 people joined labor unions to fill downtown Los Angeles’ calling all in earshot to fight oligarchy on April 12. This was a labor rally, but it was also for anyone looking for an opportunity to push back against the Trump administration and its anti-democratic, anti-labor, and anti-civil liberties policies. 

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one-half of the headliner for the rally channeled deep concern over the growing concentration of power, corruption, and wealth inequality in the U.S., attributing it to a political system increasingly dominated by billionaires and corporate interests. 

Ocasio-Cortez highlighted disturbing events, including the targeting and harassment of marginalized groups, unlawful detentions of activists like Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, and attempts by ICE to access children in schools under false pretenses. 

She argued that democracy is being eroded not only by authoritarian actions but also by economic systems designed to enrich the wealthy at the expense of the working class. The message calls for solidarity, especially across class lines, and urges collective resistance — not just through political institutions, but through everyday people standing up for one another — emphasizing that only through unity and sustained grassroots action can democracy and justice be preserved.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called for a mass, working-class movement to confront rising authoritarianism, corporate dominance, and extreme wealth inequality in America. Noting the rally organizers, supported by labor unions and prominent musicians, Sanders emphasized that millions of workers seek union representation for better wages and dignity while denouncing billionaires like Elon Musk and politicians, both Republican and complicit Democrats, for undermining democracy and enabling systemic injustice. 

Sanders criticized Donald Trump for fostering a cult-like, authoritarian government that disrespects the Constitution, attacks public institutions, and supports violent foreign policies — especially in Gaza — favoring elite interests over human rights. Domestically, Sanders condemned the gutting of social safety nets, corporate tax breaks  and growing economic disparities that leave millions living paycheck to paycheck or in poverty. 

They demand fair wages, affordable housing, universal healthcare and education as basic rights, insisting the path forward lies in solidarity, collective resistance, and economic justice for all — not just the wealthy few.

But this wasn’t just a Sanders and AOC show. Prominent labor speakers included Local 13, ILWU Vice President Brandi Good and UNITE-HERE’s Aida Briceno. Local and state politicians also spoke.

California AFL-CIO President Lorena Gonzalez exhorted the mass of humanity in downtown LA by asking, “Which side are you on? “Are you with working people or the greedy corporations like SpaceX, and Amazon, making billions off our labor and who are now trying to take away our rights?” 

Gonzalez followed that powerful start with, “When they come for us, we respond: I am sticking with the union. Are you on the side of workers fighting to organize unions? When we exercise our power, use it collectively in our workplaces and our country. When we fight we win.”

Union delegations from the Garment and Restaurant Workers Union (UNITE-HERE), the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the National Nurses Union (NNU), United Autoworkers (UAW), United Teachers of LA (UTLA) and members of several Hollywood unions that were on strike this past year joined the rally.

One of the best-received speakers was April Verrett, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representing two million workers who keep this country running hospitals, schools, airports and city halls.

Verrett delivered a powerful call to collective action, urging people to unite across lines of division to confront the interconnected forces of corporate greed, systemic racism and political corruption. Emphasizing that billionaires and oligarchs fear the organized power of the people, Verrett highlighted economic injustice — from workers struggling while corporations profit, to courts stripping away rights in favor of the wealthy. 

She spotlighted the fight of Uber and Lyft drivers in California for union rights, calling it part of a broader movement to dismantle exploitation and rewrite the rules of a rigged system. Through solidarity disruption, and mobilization, they argue, transformative change is possible — just as it was in past labor struggles — insisting that when people fight together, they win together.