Residents from across the Southern Tier gathered in Downtown Binghamton on Monday afternoon as part of a nationwide rally to show solidarity with workers and organized labor.

Protesters stood along Court Street and in front of the Broome County Courthouse, waving handmade signs reading “Workers Unite! Stop Trump” and “We The People Say No Kings.” Hundreds of other “Workers Over Billionaires” protests occurred nationwide on Labor Day in a campaign to mobilize support for labor rights. Activist groups Indivisible Binghamton, Citizen Action of New York and the 50501 Movement were among the rally’s organizers.

Speakers stood at the top of the courthouse steps in front of signs that spelled out “Support Workers.” The first speaker, Linda Quilty, co-lead of Indivisible Binghamton, told the crowd that while the protest focused on Labor Day and labor rights, there were other important issues that people should feel free to speak out about.

Later, Quilty referenced Glennon Doyle, an author and motivational speaker who quoted a metaphor about a flowing river from Michelle Alexander, a civil rights activist and The New York Times opinion columnist. The flowing river symbolizes the march toward obtaining “justice, love, equality and shared humanity,” with each boat sailing on the river representing a different cause. From immigrant rights to universal healthcare, Quilty suggested that it is up to each person to join together and support one another on the journey.

“When we get on those boats, and each one on a different boat, we yell to the other boats, ‘Keep on going, we’re with you. Go, go, go down the river of justice and love,’” Quilty said. “We don’t yell for them to come on our boat — we need all the boats.”

“We don’t just protest, we dance and we love each other so that our boats are irresistible to everyone who wants to join in,” she continued. “We lovingly keep them — the people who join — because everyone wants a loving, vibrant place to live.”

Next to speak was Ravo Root, lead organizer at Citizen Action of New York. A union worker, Root said that organized labor helped create the working class in the United States, as they fought for higher wages, safe working conditions and other protections. Addressing concerns that increasing taxes would cause wealthy people to leave the state, Root denied this and said that the number of millionaires in New York has grown in the past decade. He added that it is a “moral obligation” to ensure that “the wealthiest among us pay their fair share into the system.”

After rally goers joined in a chant calling for an end to corporate greed, Michael Kane, a Citizen Action board member, said Monday’s protest symbolized workers’ solidarity.

“This event isn’t just a celebration,” Kane said. “It’s a statement that we, the workers in the community, are united and we will keep pushing for a world that values labor over greed.”

Quilty then returned to the stage and introduced Philip Shanahan, president of the Broome-Tioga Central Labor Council. He began by detailing the history of Labor Day, telling protestors that it took strikes and “a lot of blood, a lot of pain” to achieve recognition of workers’ rights. He added that Labor Day is not just for Democrats or Republicans, but for all workers.

Addressing rhetoric about returning to America’s “golden days,” Shanahan said the wealthy were taxed at higher rates back then compared to today and that people were able to raise a family without having to work multiple jobs.

“Why can’t we bring semiconductors and the new industries and everything back to this area?” Shanahan asked the crowd. “We had our golden age here before and we can have it again. This is a beautiful area. Who wouldn’t want to live up here in Binghamton, New York?”

Barbara Mullen, another co-lead of Indivisible Binghamton, shared her recent experience traveling to Finland, Denmark and Canada and said “everyone is concerned about the United States of America.”

The final speaker, a representative from the New York Trade Justice Coalition, criticized trade policies by President Donald Trump and his predecessors over the past 35 years and said Trump’s deals contain “big giveaways” to Wall Street and large corporate interests.

After the speeches, protesters marched down Court Street and looped back.

In a press interview, Root called upon elected Democratic officials like Gov. Kathy Hochul to raise taxes on the wealthy and protect the working class. He said Trump appealed to working-class voters by “selling them a false narrative.”

“It’s really important that as working class people, we all band together in this moment because our democracy is under threat, but also the eroding of the working class and the middle class is showing,” Root said.