Politics & Government

Labor Union, Occupy Los Angeles Movement to Hold May Day Rallies

Travelers to LAX are warned of a labor demonstration and march that will temporarily close Century Boulevard while Occupy Los Angeles will converge in downtown Los Angeles' financial district.

Labor unions and the Occupy Los Angeles movement have major events planned for May Day, the annual day of celebration for the international labor movement, including a demonstration by an expected 1,200 union members inside Los Angeles International Airport.

Travelers were warned by Los Angeles World Airports to expect heavy traffic between noon and 4 p.m. Tuesday, due to the temporary closure of Century Boulevard between Airport Bouleard and the LAX Central Terminal area. Departing passengers were advised to add 45 minutes to their drive time to make sure they catch their flights.

About 1,200 members of the SEIU 1877 - United Service Workers West will demonstrate at noon inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal and then march east onto Century Boulevard to Avion Street, where the march will end.

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Westbound traffic on Century Boulevard toward LAX will be diverted and traffic exiting the airport will be diverted to Sepulveda Boulevard. Flight operations were expected to be normal.

The Occupy Los Angeles movement also is planning a massive rally with four caravans from the north, south, east and west converging in Los Angeles' downtown financial district for a rally. The group's West Wind caravan, for example, will start with a 10 a.m. rally at Wilshire Boulevard and Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica and will include flashpoint rallies and flash mobs at the Veterans Affairs building, at Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard, at a Bank of America on Wilshire, at MacArthur Park and in Skid Row before joining the downtown rally.

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Some streets in downtown Los Angeles will be closed starting around 7 a.m. and will continue to be closed until 7:30 p.m.

The Occupy L.A. group at 4 p.m. will meet up with the SCIC Immigrant Rights March for a march from Olympic and Broadway to First and Broadway. The rally will then move to Pershing Square.

Other actions include a march from Wilshire and Westwood to Wilshire and La Brea at 2 p.m.

Similar Occupy rallies are planned in other major cities, including its birthplace of Wall St. in New York.

May 1 is recognized as a labor holiday in more than 80 countries. It is known as International Workers' Day and commemmorates the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in which police killed dozens of workers during a general strike for the eight-hour workday.


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