Labor groups plan 3,000 May Day actions as When Is May Day starts
Labor unions, democratic organizations and community groups are organizing May Day economic blackouts across the U.S. on 1 May, as organizers say the scale of this year’s actions has more than doubled. For readers asking when is may day, the answer in this campaign is tied to a nationwide effort aimed at schools, workplaces and stores.
Neidi Dominguez, founding executive director of Organized Power in Numbers, said organizers expect more than 3,000 May Day actions this year, up from about 1,300 last year. She said Minneapolis gave organizers the biggest push in real time to do it.
Chicago unions back blackout
In Chicago, several local labor unions and community groups jointly announced an economic blackout for 1 May. The groups named in the announcement include the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana, Indivisible Chicago and the Chicago Federation of Labor.
Stacy Davis Gates said, “May Day has to become bigger in this moment”. She also said, “This is about building a more popular united front.” The Chicago action adds a city-specific target to a broader national call for no school, no work and no shopping.
Los Angeles coalition grows
Dominguez said several cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, are preparing for city-wide economic blackouts. In Los Angeles, the May Day coalition includes more than 50 local organizations and is organizing around immigration rights, voting rights, abolishing ICE, anti-war protests and defending workers’ rights.
Pedro Trujillo, director of organizing at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said May Day had historically been a day of immigration and labor rights groups coming together to advocate simultaneously for these issues, including the day without an immigrant boycotts of about 20 years ago. That history is part of why organizers are using a one-day blackout now rather than a single march or rally.
May Day Strong organizers
Organizers are framing the effort as a May Day Strong campaign, with actions planned across the country for 1 May. Dominguez said, “We’re really trying to actually start organizing people to see that the power that we collectively have to do economic disruption is really the power that we need in this moment to not just defend ourselves, but defend democracy,”
The practical takeaway for workers and shoppers is straightforward: the campaign is not limited to one city, and Chicago and Los Angeles are among the places where organizers are already preparing coordinated blackouts. The number to watch is whether the nationwide tally really clears 3,000, because that would mark a far larger mobilization than last year’s 1,300 actions.
