What to Know About the May Day Protests Bringing Out Demonstrators Around the U.S.
Protesters are taking to the streets in cities and towns around the U.S. during “May Day Strong” events Friday in honor of International Workers’ Day .
A coalition of hundreds of organizations is calling for a day of economic blackout with “no school, no work, no shopping” to demand “a nation that puts workers over billionaires,” a website for the event reads. Walkouts, marches, and other events have been planned to take place across the country, a number of which were underway by Friday afternoon.
The Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate activist group, said that over 100,000 students would be striking from school on Friday. “Over a dozen schools have cancelled classes because so many students and teachers are expected to miss class,” the organization posted on X.
Organizers for the day of action outlined demands including “that we tax the rich so our families, not their fortunes, come first,” as well as “No ICE. No war. No private army serving authoritarian power. Expand democracy. Hands off our vote.”
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, has long been marked as a day of protest by the labor movement. In the U.S., it traces back to the fight for an eight-hour workday in the 19th century. In early May 1886, a nationwide strike was organized to demand the limit on working hours. One May 4 demonstration in Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned violent when a bomb detonated and police opened fire in response; the event, later deemed the Haymarket affair , resulted in the deaths of multiple law enforcement officers and civilians and prompted the arrests of several labor activists, four of whom were ultimately executed.
The U.S. does not recognize the day as a federal holiday, though a number of other countries do.
“Everyday American workers across the heartland are the foundation of the Make America Great Again movement and were key to propelling President Trump to the White House,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told TIME in a statement. “The Trump administration has never wavered from standing up for American workers, from renegotiating broken trade deals to securing trillions in manufacturing investments to slashing taxes on overtime to securing our border. President Trump will always have the backs of American workers.”
The “May Day Strong” events follow multiple days of action organized by the “ No Kings ” movement in protest of President Donald Trump in recent months, as well as economic blackouts in Minnesota and more widely across the U.S. earlier this year to demonstrate outrage against the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown after federal officers fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Here’s what to know about some of the May Day events taking place in cities around the country on Friday.
New York
Rallies were underway across all five boroughs in New York City Friday morning.
People gathered at locations including Washington Square Park in Manhattan, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and MacDonald Park in Queens.
At 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, protesters began marching from Bryant Park in Manhattan towards Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos’ penthouse. Just before 10:30 a.m., people headed towards Amazon’s office from the New York Public Library.
Multiple people were arrested during a May Day demonstration outside the New York Stock Exchange, including Democratic congressional candidate Chuck Park. "We have confirmed that Chuck Park was arrested by the NYPD Strategic Response Group alongside fellow demonstrators while peacefully protesting with Sunrise Movement during a May Day civil rally for action near Wall Street," Park's team confirmed in a post on X. "More than 100 New Yorkers participated in the demonstration outside the New York Stock Exchange. Chuck was exercising his right to peaceful protest in support of working people—values that have always been at the core of his campaign."
The city’s largest gathering in the day of protest began later in the afternoon, with hundreds of demonstrators congregating in Washington Square Park for a 4 p.m. rally.
"Time and again, New York City works have shaped history from where we stand right now, " Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in an address at the event. "Workers have won the rights that are taken for granted today. The 40-hour work week. The weekend. Overtime pay. Minimum wage. Social Security. Workplace safety standards. These have all been won by the workers who came before us."
"And yet we know," he added, "that those rights are not inevitable. We have to work together to not just protect t
Chicago
Thousands of demonstrators attended a rally in Chicago’s Union Park, according to city police. The rally, which began at 1 p.m. Central Time, was followed by a march downtown.
The Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU), one of the organizers for the city’s May Day events, lobbied for the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Macquline King, to close down schools so that students could participate in the day of action. King, however, opted to keep schools open.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke at an event before the afternoon rally, along with CTU President Stacy Davis Gates.
"Today you're making history or part of the next generation of voices of leaders who will continue on the legacy of protecting and building our democracy," Johnson said.
Boston
Starting at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, workers from Boston’s Logan International Airport marched together, carrying signs with slogans such as “Boston workers deserve equity, respect, and opportunity” and “Clawing back our rights.” Demonstrators also protested Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
More events are planned throughout the day in and around Boston, including rallies in Bedford, Belmont, Cambridge, and Medford.
The day culminated in a gathering on the Boston Common at 4:30 p.m. attended by hundreds of demonstrators.
“Boston is a union city!” Mayor Michelle Wu wrote in a social media post Friday afternoon. “We’re sending that message loud and clear this May Day all across our city and all the way to Washington D.C. Our union workers work hard, take care of their families and communities, and make this city who we are. … In Boston—the cradle of liberty and birthplace of America—we know the fight for workers’ rights isn’t peculiar, it’s just, and it is never finished.”
Los Angeles
A rally kicked off in Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, leading into a roughly three-mile march to Grand Park in the city’s downtown that saw thousands of demonstrators fill the city's streets
The rally was anticipated to be one of the largest in Southern California on Friday.
"We want to support our community with an economy that works for everyone. We want to make sure that billionaires are taxed so that we provide for social structures that are needed like education, healthcare, community support," Erika Schwerdt of the nonprofit Strength Based Community Change told ABC7 Los Angeles.
San Francisco
In the Bay Area, hundreds of workers from San Francisco International Airport gathered at the airport’s international terminal for a demonstration beginning at 11 a.m. Pacific Time, according to the Service Employees International Union United Service Workers West, which organized the protest. A number of people, including multiple public officials, were arrested after demonstrators temporarily blocked traffic.
"I stand with those workers and SEIU USWW for good-paying jobs, fair wages, and an economy that respects the dignity of those who make the Bay Area run," California state Sen. Josh Becker, who was among those taken into custody, told the San Francisco Standard in a statement.
A march from the city’s Civic Center Plaza to the Federal Building and the Salesforce Tower later began at 2 p.m., and a "Workers Over Billionaires Rally" was planned to take place at the Embarcadero Plaza at 4.
Other events are being held around the East Bay and in San Jose.
Raleigh
Thousands of North Carolina teachers and activists marched in downtown Raleigh on Friday morning in a “Kids Over Corporations” event organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators. School systems across the state have canceled classes due to the anticipated absences of teachers participating in the demonstration.
May Day events are set to continue throughout the day in Raleigh and elsewhere in North Carolina. .
Washington, D.C.
In the nation’s capital, hundreds of demonstrators gathered by the Washington Monument on Friday, holding signs bearing phrases in different languages and singing along to chants in protest of the Trump Administration.
Hundreds more marched along the streets of Washington, D.C., protesting ICE and the President, and in support of workers’ rights.
