Calls for rent control and living wages take center stage at Long Beach May Day rally

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Local organizations convened at Lincoln Park on Thursday evening to demand immediate reforms from city officials during the annual May Day celebration. Banners and signs displayed messages such as “Uphold migrant workers' rights” and “Housing is a human right,” highlighting the various concerns of local community members.

Over the last several years, residents of Long Beach have witnessed rent prices soar as developers have increasingly bought up more property, which formerly belonged to private landlords. As wages stagnate and the cost of living climbs, longtime tenants are being pushed out of their homes. Residents and longtime community members are now speaking out in favor of sweeping reforms to the city’s housing and labor policies.

A coalition of local organizations—including the Long Beach Tenants Union, the Asian Youth Collective, United Steelworkers Local 2801 and the Party for Socialism and Liberation— led the march throughout downtown Long Beach. Their message was straightforward: raise the wages, lower the rent.

“In recent years [May Day] has become more than just a day or remembrance; it has become a day of action,” said Long Beach tenants organizer Maria Lopez. “May first is known as a day of protest, strike and other labor related political events as government increasingly allows corporations to exploit, overwork and underpay their employees.” 

The various coalitions called upon the Long Beach City Council to implement permanent rent stabilization, crack down on landlord abuses and enact stronger worker protections. “Tenants are workers, and workers are tenants,” said organizers in a joint statement. “Our struggle is inextricably linked.

The coalition’s housing demands included a three percent cap on annual rent increases, a ban on substantial remodel evictions, which is increasingly being used to displace long-time tenants, and a policy barring evictions for non-payment unless tenants owe more than two months’ rent.

Over the past decade, rents in Long Beach have risen by 20 percent citywide, exacerbating housing insecurity in a city where 43 percent of all households are cost-burdened. The Development Department of Long Beach released a report stating that wages are not increasing with rent demands and a majority of residents are spending more than 30 percent of their monthly income on rent or a mortgage.

Organizers also called for a living wage for Memorial Healthcare workers, expanded labor protections for concession and sidewalk vendors and the immediate payment of more than $2.3 million in wage theft by Amity In-Home Care Services. The California Labor Commissioner’s Office recently cited the company for misclassifying caregivers as independent contractors.

The rally lasted for approximately an hour, then turned into a peaceful march throughout the downtown Long Beach area.