1 month ago
Anyone who attended 1 of nan 3,000 No Kings protests successful March mightiness person learned of nan latest effort to protest against Trump management policies: May Day Strong.
The single-day protestation connected 1 May is taking its cue from the monolithic time of action that unopen down Minneapolis successful January by asking Americans not to shop, activity aliases spell to school. Rallies, marches and teach-ins will besides return spot crossed nan country.
“The labour activity successful our state cannot beforehand while ignoring nan battle connected democracy,” said Neidi Dominguez, founding executive head of Organized Power successful Numbers and executive squad personnel of May Day Strong.
“And nan pro-democracy activity can’t inquire moving group to take sides absurd principles while they can’t spend housing, paying bills aliases accessing healthcare. We request a nationalist activity that does both. That’s why labour and organization organizations are throwing down difficult this May 1.”
What is May Day Strong?
Organizers are expecting much than 3,500 actions crossed nan state – from thoroughfare protests to walkouts – “under nan banner of workers complete billionaires, taxing nan rich, demanding ICE out, money for group not wars, and expanding democracy”, said Dominguez.
Since 2024, nan May Day Strong conjugation has been hosting Solidarity School organizing trainings, sharing toolkits and encouraging group to group up their ain May Day events. The labour unions progressive are already utilizing their organization musculus to help, too: nan Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) successfully fought to person 1 May declared a “day of civic action” successful nan city, and nan National Education Association (NEA) has posted a useful May Day planning guideline on its website.
The extremity is “a nationwide time of economical disruption”, organizers said – by bringing business arsenic accustomed to a halt, protesters will show really powerful nan moving people tin beryllium erstwhile it flexes its corporate muscle.
Who is organizing May Day Strong?
The May Day Strong conjugation is made up of a formidable list of unions, Democratic Socialists of America chapters, pro-democracy groups specified arsenic Indivisible (who person jumped connected committee to amplify nan May Day message), and labor, group justice, anti-war, pro-democracy, ambiance justice, migrant authorities and reproductive justness organizations.
That intersectional attack is simply a halfway facet of their work, Dominguez said: “There’s much of america than location are of them. We conscionable person to shape ourselves together.”
Where tin I find May Day Strong events successful my area?
May Day Strong’s website has a searchable map to thief group find May Day actions and motion up to big their own. Signing nan May Day pledge is different measurement to get connected and person much accusation astir events.
Is it a wide onslaught (and does that matter)?
No – astatine slightest not successful 2026. “A wide onslaught is fundamentally a activity stoppage that paralyzes aggregate awesome industries,” said Eric Blanc, an adjunct professor of labour studies astatine Rutgers University.
That’s not what May Day Strong is readying for this year. As galore organizers person noted, it will return years to shape a full-on, sustained wide onslaught successful nan US – which is why 2028 has emerged arsenic a target date.
Rather, May Day Strong organizers are amplifying nan telephone for “no work, nary school, nary shopping” that anchored Minnesota’s Day of Truth and Freedom connected 23 January, bringing millions of protesters retired to request an extremity to ICE’s business successful their cities.
General strikes are uncommon successful nan US, though historically they person been 1 of organized labor’s astir powerful tools. In 1877, railroad workers launched a onslaught that paralyzed nan nation; successful 1919, workers successful Seattle unopen down nan metropolis for 5 days. Minneapolis saw its ain wide onslaught in 1934, erstwhile unionized motortruck drivers brought nan metropolis to a standstill and lit a awesome occurrence for different workers crossed nan midwest to organize.
However, nan transition of nan 1946 Taft-Hartley Act fundamentally outlawed nan wide onslaught and severely constricted workers’ expertise to onslaught successful solidarity pinch 1 another. The US hasn’t seen a existent wide onslaught since.
The maneuver remains a potent lever for governmental alteration successful different countries, specified arsenic India and Italy. “Experience crossed nan world suggests that it whitethorn return specified an action – aliases astatine slightest nan reliable threat of 1 – to reverse authoritarianism successful nan US,” said Blanc.
What is nan May Day 2028 wide strike?
That inconvenient portion of anti-labor authorities is precisely why nan United Auto Workers’ telephone for a May Day wide onslaught successful 2028 has generated truthful overmuch excitement. The national and its lawyers are good alert of those ineligible constraints, which is why they had to find a loophole.
In April 2024, Shawn Fain, president of nan UAW, publically called connected each unions, crossed industries and sectors, to align their statement expiration dates for 1 May 2028. If those unions’ contracts expire, truthful do nan no-strike clauses that galore contain; pinch nary contract, there’s thing stopping members from going connected strike. If it conscionable truthful happens that thousands – aliases millions – of workers find themselves successful that business connected nan aforesaid day, well, there’s not overmuch nan rule tin do to extremity it.
Several awesome unions, including nan CTU, nan NEA, nan American Federation of Teachers and nan American Postal Workers Union, person already pledged to subordinate them. The May Day Strong conjugation is besides moving to support nan 2028 wide onslaught by giving non-union organizations a measurement to get their members fresh to participate.
“The truth is: without workers, nan world stops running,” Fain wrote successful an op-ed for In These Times. “A successful wide onslaught is going to return time, wide coordination, and a full batch of activity by nan labour movement. As moving people, we must travel together. We tin nary longer let corporations, politicians and borders to disagreement us.”
What is nan history down May Day?
May Day, aliases International Workers’ Day, was first celebrated successful nan US successful 1886, erstwhile rebel labour organizers Lucy and Albert Parsons led 300,000 striking workers in Chicago connected nan first American May Day parade. While nan first of May has a overmuch older history rooted successful ancient pagan rites and nan changing seasons, successful a governmental discourse it has since go known arsenic a world time of celebration, struggle and remembrance for nan moving class.
May Day is an charismatic vacation successful 66 countries and is celebrated informally successful galore others, marked by marches, parades, strikes and demonstrations. However, successful nan US, 1 May is designated “Loyalty Day”; nan workers’ holiday, Labor Day, has been relegated to nan first Monday successful September. And, yes, nan deficiency of nickname for May Day is very overmuch intentional. This has been a root of vexation for labor’s near flank for decades, and nan precocious renewed attraction connected 1 May arsenic a time of corporate action nods to labor’s history arsenic good arsenic its future.
As Fain said: “It’s clip we reclaimed May Day for nan moving class.”
