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WORKER RIGHTS - Fed up with the cruelty and chaos of the first month of Trump 2.0, more than 50 members of the East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD) came out to protest attacks on workers’ rights and the rule of law by the President in cooperation with billionaire cronies like Amazon/Whole Foods owner Jeff Bezos.
The boisterous, well-organized rally on Sunday, Feb. 16, took place in front of the Whole Foods location on Glendale Blvd. in Silver Lake. It drew residents from more than ten Eastside neighborhoods as well as new Assemblymember Jessica Caloza, an Eagle Rock resident, and Juanita Chávez, a public education and environmental justice advocate who lives in Hollywood and daughter of labor and women’s rights leader Dolores Huerta.
“Union-busting is disgusting!” was an oft-heard chant and message on protesters’ signage that got scores of car horns honking as they passed. “L.A. loves unions,” stated one sign. “We don’t need billionaires to rule us. Boycott Bezos!” stated another. “We will never accede to billionaires’ greed!” was a message that drew cheers and thumbs-up from many drivers turning into the parking lot at the large strip-mall.
Many customers, informed of recent maneuvers by Amazon-owned Whole Foods to exploit a lawless move by Trump to nullify a union victory by workers at the supermarket chain in Philadelphia, said they are choosing to shop elsewhere.
Instead of the respect that Whole Foods workers deserve, Jeff Bezos and Amazon appear to be trying to negate the votes by workers in a union election in January that was overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The union victory coincided with an alarming action by Trump, who attempted, with no legal basis, to remove a pivotal, third member of the NLRB. That move seemed aimed at eliminating a quorum in the agency, which would hobble it from functioning, including to recognize the victory in favor of the local union of the United Food & Commercial Workers in Philadelphia.
“They are using one reckless, heartless, lawless action as justification for another,” wrote EAPD in its announcement of the Feb. 16 rally. “That tactic threatens ALL working people and consumers. That is a billionaire coup.”
Juanita Chávez (L)
Grassroots Democrats showed a strong voice at the rally and a determined, fighting spirit. Despite its wholly peaceful nature, the protest somehow drew a police helicopter, possibly summoned by a call from higher-ups in the Amazon/Whole Foods corporate structure. It circled overhead for several minutes, igniting pride and delight in the throng of attendees.
One facet of the protest that also appeared effective was to remind shoppers of the choice in supermarkets. “If Whole Foods fails to respect workers, and chooses to enable and exploit Trump lawlessness, then consumers can vote with our feet and our dollars by taking them elsewhere — and stand up for the dignity of working people AND our democracy,” noted EAPD in its invitation.
Adding urgency to protest and public pushback against Jeff Bezos is another worrisome form of repression that EAPD members highlighted before and at the rally. Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes’ cartoon depicting Bezos bending knee to pay tribute to Trump was spiked by the Bezos-owned Washington Post in early January 2025.
The rally concluded with pledges to return again and again to support retail workers and to call out abuses of power by Bezos and other billionaires like Elon Musk cooperating in Trump’s attacks on public servants, the rule of law, and essential lifelines of Congressionally approved federal investment.
“We see you, Jeff Bezos and Amazon, and what you’re made of,” said one speaker at the conclusion of the rally. “You’re thumbing your nose at the law and at our hard-won rights. It’s NOT healthy or safe. It’s NOT the American way. And we aren’t buying it!”
(Hans Johnson is a longtime leader for LGBTQ+ human rights, environmental justice, and public education. His columns appear in national news outlets including USA Today and in top daily news outlets of more than 20 states. A resident of Eagle Rock, he is also president of East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), the largest grassroots Democratic club in California, with more than 1,100 members.)
