Laborers in DeKalb protest Trump-era ‘attacks’ on unions, higher education

DeKALB – Workers’ rights, immigration, and higher education free of government oversight were among issues protesters decried Saturday as under attack by the Trump administration, urging the large crowd gathered in DeKalb to put “unrelenting” pressure on legislators to push back.

Hundreds gathered along Sycamore Road at Hopkins Park in DeKalb for the May Day rally, one of more than 1,000 similar rallies held in all 50 states this week. May Day, usually May 1, has historic ties to labor movements, including unionized workers’ push for an eight-hour workday.

Among those gathered was Northern Illinois University English professor Mark van Weinen. The president of the United Faculty Alliance union at NIU, Weinen called the first 100 days of Trump’s second term “a catastrophe.”

“What we need is a broad based political movement that is going to stand together, that is going to be unrelenting,” Weinen said, “...to push back against this unlawful, ridiculous and destructive attack against our higher education institutions and ultimately the rule of law and democracy.”

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Protesters wave at honking cars on Sycamore Road Saturday, May 3, 2025, at Hopkins Park in DeKalb during a May Day Rally for Democracy to protest against Trump administration policies. (Mark Busch)

Organizers angry at the way President Donald Trump is running the country used the rally to bring attention to other ways they argued he is illegally dismantling American institutions.

Immigration, higher education, labor freedoms, federal funding for things such as veteran services, Medicaid and programs touting diversity, equity and inclusion were some of the topics protesters spoke in support of Saturday.

Although the cause may have been heavy, the atmosphere appeared less so in DeKalb; the air filled with protest songs from the 1960s. Musicians performed songs such as Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” and Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

Some brought donations for a collection for Welcome Essentials Pantry, a Social Justice Ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of DeKalb. Others manned booths offering water and first aid supplies or information about ways to get involved in local activism.

Most stood along the sidewalk to greet motorists and passersby. Protest signs bore declarations such as “Which crimes get you deported and which crimes get you elected president?” “1984 is here,” “Wake up before it’s too late” and “It’s a beautiful day for a revolution.”

Cortland resident Katie Merkelz protested clad in a red gown and white cap, the outfit worn by the title character from Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The 1985 novel is about a dystopian totalitarian former America turned into a hyper-patriarchal religious society that uses most women only for procreation, dubbed “handmaids,” and stripped of their freedoms.

Atwood’s book has been challenged frequently in recent years in communities advocating for specific books to be banned in libraries and school curriculums.

When asked if there’s a particular current event she finds most worrisome, Merkelz said, “It all worries me.”

“This has got to stop,” Merkelz said. “... Stop drinking the Kool-Aid.”

In the spirit of May Day, most of the afternoon’s speakers were union members who gave testimony about the ways federal policy is negatively affecting their members.

Littlejohn Elementary School teacher Mary Lynn Buckner is co-president of the DeKalb Classroom Teachers Association, the union that represents DeKalb District 428 educators. She spoke against Trump’s plans to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Earlier this week, the Trump administration moved to cancel $1 billion in Biden-era school mental health grants, The Associated Press reported.

“We also stand in resistance to an administration that seeks to dismantle the very foundations of public education and labor rights,” Buckner said.

She said federal cuts would eliminate needed dollars for Title 1, the designation used to disseminate dollars to districts with low-income students and early childhood education programs like Head Start.

“Such cuts threaten the education of our most vulnerable and undermine the principle of an equal opportunity in education,” Buckner said.

Weinen told the crowd to acknowledge the possibility that recent public protests may have helped reinstate visas for five NIU international students. He said students and faculty are scared, afraid to rally for themselves for fear of retribution.

“There will be more attacks on international students, and we have to be ready to fight back again and again in support of those colleagues and those students who make our learning community at NIU and our universities across the United States stronger, better, smarter,” Weinen said.

Weinen also criticized Trump’s attacks on DEI programs. He spoke of an NIU science professor, whom he did not name, who he said recently lost federal funding for their research that focused on women in STEM-related roles, a historically male-dominated field.

Trump’s administration has cut billions of dollars in federal grants deemed to be related to DEI and has threatened to cut billions more from schools and colleges over diversity practices, The AP reported. The administration says any policy that treats people differently because of their race amounts to discrimination.

“What is not to like about embracing diversity, seeking equity and fostering inclusion?” Weinen said to cheers in the crowd.

U.S. Postal Service worker Anthony Reusch, of Rockford, has been delivering mail for 11 years in the DeKalb area. He’s also the DeKalb Branch Steward of the American Postal Workers Union chapter, which has about 80 members throughout DeKalb, Sycamore and Genoa.

In February, Trump suggested plans to privatize the national postal service, citing financial shortfalls and inefficiencies. Reusch urged those gathered to write to their legislators and voice opposition to that plan.

“The consequences of privatization are dire,” Reusch said. “We could see job losses, reduced service quality, increased shipping costs and negative impacts on rural communities where private carries do not operate.”

The USPS has more than 640,000 employees, including more than 70,000 veterans, who service about 169 million delivery spots, Reusch said.

Malta resident Brittany Chandler stood among the crowd holding a sign that read “We are all immigrants.”

A mother, Chandler said she wanted to show her kids that it’s important to stand up for what’s right. Chandler also attended an NIU campus protest April 23 to advocate for immigrants and international students and employees.

“I’m a Christian person, and Jesus teaches us that we stand up for the least of these,” Chandler said. “If we don’t do for them what we would do for Jesus, then what are we even doing? So it’s important in this time that we stand up for people who may not have a voice for themselves right now.”