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May Day Activists Rally In Union Square For Workers' Rights

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- About 100 labor activists, students and Occupy Wall Street protesters rallied in Union Square on Thursday in honor of International Workers' Day.

The rally focused on issues including rights for undocumented immigrants and raising the minimum wage.

There were several May Day protests scattered throughout the city, including a march to Wall Street and a gathering in Zuccotti Park, the site of the original Occupy encampment.

Bea Sabino, 23, a nurse who came to the U.S. as a teenager from the Philippines, told the crowd that her story reflects those of hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

"My story is our immigration story because we all trace our roots to the socio-economic conditions in our home countries that push us to come here,'' said Sabino. "We're calling for legalization, but we need to address the root causes of emigration. We all work under the same labor laws, but they're not enforced.''

Sabino was speaking on behalf of the International Alliance for Filipino Concerns.

She was among dozens of others who had scribbled on their arms the number for the National Lawyers Guild in case they got arrested.

Some protesters hoisted cutouts of butterflies in celebration of the sunny spring day. Others held protest signs with slogans including "Abolish Wage Slavery.''

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