NEW YORK – At a march to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, AFSCME President Lee Saunders called Wall Street bankers and CEOs “complicit in the Trump administration’s ruthless attacks on workers from Day 1.”
Organized by National Action Network (NAN), a civil rights organization, Thursday’s March on Wall Street, protested the administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion policies and its police takeover of Washington, D.C. It was a tribute to Dr. King’s legacy and a renewed call to fight for economic justice.
Led by NAN founder the Rev. Al Sharpton, the event brought together civil rights activists, labor leaders and organized workers. They marched alongside Martin Luther King III and New York state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, among others.
Saunders criticized Wall Street for going along with the administration’s plans to slash taxes for billionaires at the expense of working people. That was at the core of the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which narrowly passed Congress and was signed into law in July.
“The same bankers and CEOs getting new tax cuts have cheered as anti-worker politicians slash Medicaid, food assistance, and other lifelines that millions of people — especially in communities of color — depend on to survive,” Saunders said.
But he also sounded a hopeful note, quoting Dr. King’s famous words from the 1963 March on Washington, “We refuse to believe the bank of justice is bankrupt.”
“We must recommit to a movement that refuses to separate civil rights from labor rights, or human dignity from economic justice,” Saunders added. “We must recommit to a movement that refuses to let Wall Street write the rules while working families pay the price. And we must recommit to the hard work of organizing and mobilizing working people to recognize their power — and use it.”