Activists push ‘Workers Over Billionaires’ message on Labor Day

September 1, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

Labor Day demonstration supporting workers rights in Waitsfield on Monday. Courtesy photo

Local activists joined in a Labor Day demonstration in Waitsfield on Monday as part of an estimated 1,000 “Workers Over Billionaires” rallies around the country on the holiday. 

According to organizers with the Mad River Indivisible group, more than 80 people took part in the noon-hour peaceful demonstration along Vermont Route 100 in the Waitsfield business district. Other similar public events were held in more than a dozen other Vermont communities, including Burlington, Essex Junction, Rutland, South Hero and Woodstock, according to organizers. 

Members of Indivisible and 50501 chapters, along with labor unions, took to the streets on Labor Day across the nation, rallying in support of workers' rights and against preferential treatment shown to billionaires by the Trump administration, explained Judi Daly with the Mad River Indivisible group. The effort was led by the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the U.S. 

“We stood up to defend our democracy and everyone’s rights, as well as jobs, wages, and benefits,” Daly said. 

Demonstrators line Route 100 in Waitsfield. Courtesy photo