Honoring May Day: Standing with Workers, Taking Action Together
On this International Workers’ Day, we lift up the dignity of labor and the ongoing fight for justice alongside farm workers and all workers organizing for their rights.
We’re honored to share a reflection from PCUN Rev. Connie Yost, President, Farm Worker Ministry Northwest, who reminds us why this struggle is sacred. We also invite you to take action through opportunities from our partners across the movement.
PCUN May Day 2025
Reflection by the Rev. Connie Yost
President, Farm Worker Ministry Northwest
In 1962 James Baldwin wrote, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”[i] Friends, we must stay strong and face the hard truths of this lawless and immoral time in our country.
And the truth is that the Trump administration appears to be heading to an authoritarian system, under which, in the words of Jamal Greene, professor at Columbia Law School, “civil society is significantly diminished for fear of targeted retribution… We have much to fear.”[ii]
And there is much fear in our hearts. Fear of being deported, fear of families being torn apart, fear of economic hardship, fear of programs being diminished or eliminated that provide the basic safety net of food for the hungry, care for the elderly, services for the disabled and health care for all.
Isabel Allende who was forced to flee Chile in a military coup says that “Fear is a very pervasive thing that changes a society, and changes the way people behave with each other, and changes you inside. Something breaks inside you.”[iii]
Friends, it is our moral and human duty to come together in this time of fear. Some of us are breaking inside right now. We must stand strong together and not let us forget the inherent worth and dignity of each person, regardless of legal status. We must stand strong against hateful narratives and policies that break people apart. We must offer ourselves as a sanctuary for all in need.
We must stand together, as one community. Pope Francis wrote “Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.”[iv]
I offer you this closing blessing:
May you offer and find comfort in a community of mutual support and care, such as this one;
May you cultivate and offer others love and hope even in darkest of times;
May we never forget that our lives are interconnected and we have a moral responsibility to care for one other, especially those in the most need and under the most threat;
May we honor the inherent worth and dignity of each person we meet;
May we be motivated by our own moral outrage to speak out, stand up, and stand with, and share our own stories;
May we know that there is an infinite love that surrounds us and supports us, even in our darkest hour.
Amen and blessed be.
[i] AS MUCH TRUTH AS ONE CAN BEAR by James Baldwin, The New York Times, January 14, 1962
[ii] Opinion | A Road Map of Trump’s Lawless Presidency – The New York Times
[iii] ‘The Interview’: Isabel Allende Understands How Fear Changes a Society – The New York Times
[iv] Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship – Top Quotes from Pope Francis’ Latest Encyclical – Catholic Apostolate Center
PCUN highlights Rev. Connie Yost of Farm Worker Ministry Northwest
Rev Connie Yost FWM NW Poor Peoples March, 2023
In preparation for International Workers Day around the nation, our Oregon partner PCUN has created several short video clips, known as reels circulating social media, with testimony and messages from different community members. In one of those videos, Board member of NFWM and president of Farm Worker Ministry Northwest, Reverend Connie Yost, reminds the community about the importance of advocating for the farm workers that feed us, especially in these difficult times. We must remember they are valuable to our communities and we must speak up against the injustice they are enduring. In Oregon, this is a call to action to ask all of our supporters there to stand up and show up for the International Workers Day march at noon on May 1st at the capitol steps, in Salem OR.
In Washington state, Familias Unidas will host an action on April 30th to ask the Governor and Attorney General to take action. People can get updates on the action via the RSVP link. Sign up and join them.
NFWM joins Migrant Justice for an all day May Day action
Across the country the news is dominated by the massive raids and arrests of immigrants who are being detained and many deported without due process. NFWM’s Director of Farm Worker Advocacy, Elizabeth Rodriguez, will be visiting our farm worker partner in the Northeast, Migrant Justice in Burlington Vermont on May 1st, to join in the International Workers all day Picket outside of Hannaford Supermarket in Williston, VT to demand Milk with Dignity and to demand the release of the 8 dairy workers that were detained last week. In addition to the picket, they will be marching to the ICE facility where the workers are being held and then finish the day back at Hannaford Supermarket. Nationally, you can take action by signing the two petitions demanding the release of the dairy workers; First is the Eight Dairy Workers detained in the largest raid the state has ever seen. The second petition is to Free Arbey, who was detained two weeks prior to the 8 workers. Locally, go to 78 Marshall Ave., Williston, VT and join the dairy workers at the picket. And tell them NFWM sent you!
