More than 200 demonstrators gathered outside the Grandon Civic Center and Sterling’s post office Monday, Sept. 1, joining thousands across the country in a coordinated “Workers over Billionaires” Labor Day protest aimed at highlighting labor struggles and income inequality.

The Sterling demonstration was one of many held nationwide as part of a Labor Day push by unions and worker advocacy groups to draw attention to what they describe as deepening economic inequality and an erosion of worker protections.

Many protestors in Sterling directed their criticism at President Donald Trump and his administration, blaming his policies for favoring corporations and the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working people.

The event was organized by the Indivisible Sauk Valley group and union speech pathologist Alissa Kirchner.

“We believe that as union members, we’re stronger together,” Kirchner said. “We feel that because we don’t have money like the billionaires do, the one thing we do have is numbers and so, we are stronger when we work together.”

That sense of solidarity extended beyond those physically present. Indivisible’s VJ Vaughn said the event was also meant to represent the many workers who could not attend.

“There are countless individuals that are working: fast food employees, cashiers, law enforcement... that can’t be out here and we’re here to represent them as well,” Vaughn said. “It’s a good thing to be out here and support the rights of every person here.”

Local attorney Janet Buttron said the influence of billionaires has fundamentally undermined the nation’s democratic foundations.

“Our country essentially has been taken over by billionaires. We’re a constitutional republic of representative democracy, and that’s not happening,” Buttron said. “The people are being ignored while Big Money is running rampant and controlling our elections, and right now, we have a dictator in the office.”

Buttron pushed back against those who dismiss concerns about authoritarianism, pointing to what she described as a deliberate consolidation of power under Trump, including his withholding of nearly $2 billion in congressionally approved funds from Illinois.

“That was congressionally appropriated money that Trump, without authority, has withheld from Illinois, and he’s doing that in all the other blue states too,” Buttron said. “He’s ignoring Congress, and he’s ignoring court orders... People in our courtrooms can’t do that. They have to follow the court’s orders but here’s the president of the United States ignoring court orders.”

She warned that these actions amounted to authoritarian behavior, citing Trump’s use of the National Guard and what she described as a move toward a “militarized police state.”

“It sounds like something that would happen in other countries. I never thought I’d see it here in the United States, but it’s happening,” Buttron said. “Today’s special focus is on workers over billionaires but it’s the same thing, protecting the rights of the people.”

The Trump administration’s recent visit to National Guard troops at Union Station stirred further outrage among protestors, especially after White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller reportedly dismissed concerns about the militarized presence, claiming only “elderly white people” objected to the show of force.

Among the crowd were several political hopefuls and organizers gathering signatures for upcoming races, including Whiteside County Democratic Committee Chair Fidencio Hooper-Campos.

“It’s become a normalcy for us to protest now, and we’ve got them planned out until the end of the year,” Hooper-Campos said. “Every couple of weeks, you’ll be seeing us here at the park, and people are fired up.”

Nolan Kemp, a Democrat who recently announced his candidacy for Illinois’s 74th House District, was also gathering signatures at the event. He said frustration with the direction of national politics is something he hears often from residents – a feeling he shares.

“That’s one of the reasons I decided to step up,” Kemp said. “I’m, of course, myself kind of unhappy with what’s going on at the national level, especially with some of the values they’re putting across the table. But as long as these people are going to be out here standing, I’m going to be standing right next to them. And I hope to instill some of the values and morals that these people out here today have when I get into office for the 74th District.”

Oliver Sweetser, a candidate for the 73rd House District, was also out collecting signatures. He said the protest’s message aligned closely with his campaign’s core values of labor rights, affordable housing, better transit, and taxing wealth to fund public services.

“They recognize the injustice that is the rich getting richer and making sure that people like them have a harder life, just because it affords one more dollar that they can shovel into their mouths,” Sweetser said.