Freeway commuters making their way east and west on Labor Day encountered two big white signs with red bold letters touting pro-worker messages on bridges above a stretch of Interstate 10 in Phoenix.
On the bridge near I-10 and 35th Avenue, the sign facing westbound commuters read "WE DE$ERVE MORE!" The sign facing eastbound commuters near I-10 and 7th Street read "OUR LABOR, OUR POWER."
Poder in Action and Organized Power in Numbers, or OPIN, hung the two signs to remind Labor Day commuters that the holiday was founded to commemorate working-class people trying to make ends meet and to remind people they are not alone in their struggle for a better future, two spokespeople from the groups said.
Mike Cassidy, Poder in Action's director of communications,
said many people feel like they "cannot speak up or levy criticism" against the government because "we're living in a time of increasing authoritarianism." The signs are reminders that they have power when communities band together, he said.
Poder in Action is dedicated to building the political power of "people of color and working class communities to disrupt and dismantle systems of oppression" by training people in civic advocacy, organizing and movement building, according to its website.
The banners remind people that Labor Day was won through the work of early union organizers who fought to have Labor Day recognized, said Andrea Luna Cervantes, OPIN's Arizona campaign manager. OPIN is a labor advocacy group based in the Southern and Southwestern United States.
Labor Day was partly founded in reaction to the 1894 Pullman strikes, which protested the layoff of 2,000 Pullman Palace Car Company railroad workers and the cutting of their wages. The holiday was recognized by labor unions as early 1880s but it became a federal holiday in 1894 as a conciliatory gesture to labor organizers, according to Britannica.
The signs remind people "that our work should be coming back to us," Luna Cervantes said.
Luna Cervantes said the signs serve as a reminder to people the taxes they pay should be re-invested in their communities in the form of health care and aid programs such as lowering the cost of living and mental health services.
Cassidy said the dollar sign on the westbound sign was meant to symbolize that message of investing in communities.
"If we’re going to win, we've got to do it with a larger number of folks from the community,” Cassidy said.
With rampant U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions and the Trump administration gutting departments of its workers, Luna Cervantes warned that the United States is backsliding into history "and not the good parts."
However, the freeway signs serve as a reminder that "we are powerful when we come together," Luna Cervantes said.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Giant Labor Day banners over I-10 freeway call for social justice
