In over 1,000 U.S. cities: Workers mobilized for May Day

A message for May Day: ‘Workers of the world unite, Palestine is our fight!’

International Workers Day — May 1 — commemorates the struggle for the eight-hour workday in Chicago in 1886. Eight leaders of the powerful demonstration that took place in the city’s Haymarket Square were framed up for the killing of a police officer. Four of them were executed, with a fifth found dead in his cell before his scheduled execution. May Day honors the Haymarket Martyrs, a majority of whom were immigrants.

This year’s May Day comes as President Donald Trump’s administration escalates its fascist crackdown on working people — above all immigrants, documented and undocumented. It comes as the people of Palestine continue to be subjected to genocide and starvation by the U.S.-backed Zionist regime. May Day follows mass demonstrations in April that protested Trump’s policies but were tethered to the Democratic Party.

According to May Day Strong there were over 1,000 actions on or around May 1 — a record number in the U.S., one of the few countries where International Workers Day has not been widely celebrated for many decades, with the exception of the massive strike of immigrant workers in 2006. 

Many of these actions were called or supported by organized labor, but some of them echoed the limited politics of May Day Strong, downplaying solidarity with immigrants and omitting any mention of Palestine. (maydaystrong.org)

It is imperative that all rallies and marches that celebrate International Workers Day center solidarity with Palestine. As these accounts show, internationalist solidarity with Palestine and the global working class broke through, whether or not it was part of the official program in a particular city.

And around the world, millions of workers turned out for militant expressions of the Leninist slogan, “Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!”

‘Make May Day Freedom for Palestine Day!’

Thousands of protesters surrounded the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common to observe International Workers Day. Union activists vowed to resist Trump’s vicious program of austerity. Other speakers pledged solidarity with immigrant and LGBTQIA2S+ communities targeted by Trump’s fascist crackdown, demanded the release of pro-Palestinian political prisoners Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Özturk – currently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – and vowed to continue mobilizing against resurgent fascism in the U.S. 

Palestinian Youth Movement organizer Farah stressed the need for solidarity between workers, Palestinians and all other oppressed peoples worldwide: “Just as workers have fought for their rights against the forces of capitalism, Palestinians are fighting against imperialist capitalist forces as they seek to erase our existence, deny our human rights and all while generating millions of dollars in profits for Western weapons manufacturers. As we stand with workers around the world we must stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon, Congo and Sudan. Our struggles are interconnected, because humanity is interconnected.” 

The Workers World Party Boston branch joined the Boston Coalition for Palestine contingent to say, “Make May Day Freedom for Palestine Day!” Many marchers carried Palestinian and Lebanese flags in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people, who, along with working people worldwide, continue to fight for liberation from capitalist imperialism. 

Despite calls from the Federation of Trade Unions in Gaza for May Day actions opposing the genocide, the announcement of the New York City May Day 2025 march, called by a coalition led by the New York Central Labor Council, made no mention of Gaza or Palestine.    

This Democratic Party-demanded silence on Palestine is out of step with the mass sentiment of workers here in the U.S and worldwide. Many marchers showed up for the rally — which rightly opposed Trump’s attacks on workers and expressed solidarity with migrant workers — wearing keffiyehs, carrying pro-Palestinian signs or holding signs supporting Khalil. The group Labor for Palestine National Network had a dynamic pro-Palestinian contingent.

To amplify this mass pro-Palestinian sentiment among all marchers, a coalition of groups led by Workers World Party, Mutual Aid and Scientific Socialism and the Bronx Anti-War Coalition staged an exuberant and militant pro-Palestinian rally on Broadway in front of Zuccotti Park — a point in Lower Manhattan that every May Day participant would pass.

Throngs of May Day marchers responded to the rally’s banner that said “Raise a fist for Palestine” by doing just that — and they also joined in the militant chants calling for Palestinian liberation, the most popular one being “Workers of the world unite, Palestine is our fight!” 

New York marchers responded enthusiastically to the worker-focused Palestine rally placards — such as “An injury to Palestine is an injury to all!” and “Stop the Billionaires’ War on Gaza!” and “Money for Health care, Not Genocide!” — as well as explicitly anti-imperialist banners proclaiming “Glory to the Axis of Resistance!”

Other participating groups included: CODE PINK NYC, New York City Students for Justice in Palestine, The New School Students for Justice in Palestine, Cooper Union Students for Justice in Palestine⁩, Pratt Students Against Occupation, City University of New York School of Law Students for Justice in Palestine, CUNY Graduate Center for Palestine, Jazz Against Genocide, General Strike NYC, Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle, National Immigrant Solidarity Network, United National Antiwar Coalition, International Action Center and Pakistan USA Freedom Forum.

Workers not billionaires!

Thousands demonstrated on May 1 in Philadelphia where, for the first time in history, the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO called a “For the Workers, Not the Billionaires” rally on the international workers’ holiday. Days before the rally, it was announced that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders would be speaking at the event outside Philadelphia City Hall.

Workers from dozens of unions — including UNITE HERE Local 274, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 47, AFSCME DC 33, Service Employees Union 32BJ, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT), United Auto Workers and the Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania (MILPA) — participated in the rally and a militant march that followed.

The immigrant rights group Juntos rallied in South Philadelphia earlier in the day and marched to City Hall where they joined other immigrant rights groups before participating in the union May Day rally.

As Sanders was speaking, chants of “Free Palestine” could be heard from the loud Revolutionary May Day Contingent which had just joined the rally, complete with Palestinian flags and banners calling for an end to the U.S.-Israeli genocidal war in Gaza.

After Sanders’ speech, thousands of rally participants took to the streets, led by large contingents of UNITE HERE, PFT and AFSCME members. The Revolutionary Mayday Contingent, which included members of Workers World Party and other progressive and revolutionary organizations, grew to well over 100 people when it joined the march, continuously chanting for Palestine and against capitalism and imperialism.

Police blocked the entrances to Vine Street Expressway, but 75 union members and other activists sat down, blocking the intersection during rush hour behind a “Workers, not billionaires” banner. The group, including members of UAW, UNITE HERE, a few City Council members and other protesters were zip-tied, arrested and taken away by cops.

Rally organizers told the media: “We know that when we stand together with our community partners and immigrant group allies, we are a force that cannot be divided. While this may be Philly Labor’s first act of civil disobedience of the second Trump administration, we are doubtful it’ll be our last.”

Actions hit ICE

Our City Action Buffalo (OCAB) organized a demonstration in front of the ICE office in Buffalo, New York, on May 1. Hundreds of protesters came out to make their voices heard and protest the Trump regime’s mass deportations. Speakers came forward to discuss ICE’s detention of migrants, the actions of local capitalists and the necessity of workers. 

Support for Palestine could be seen in the keffiyehs and flags displayed. OCAB organizers polled the number of new activists present (those who had never been to an action before) by a show of hands, revealing that approximately one in four were at a protest for the first time. 

Workers World Party Buffalo branch members attended alongside members of SUNY Boycott Divestment Sanctions University at Buffalo and raised Palestinian liberation and solidarity with migrants front and center. “End All U.S. Aid to israel!” and “Abolish ICE and Prisons!” were among WWP’s slogans. 

Thunder and pouring rain interrupted the protest about an hour into the event. The organizers disbanded it at the first sighting of lightning, but approximately half the protesters remained in the pouring rain and continued.

WWP members then attended a rally at UB North Campus led by the Grad Student Employees Union in support of workers on campus, where they made the connection between the Palestinian struggle and workers’ struggles here. 

This action was followed by a larger, more militant march through campus raising worker and student solidarity with Palestine, organized by a coalition of campus groups, including the Communist Student League, SUNY BDS UB, Young Democratic Socialists of America, American Party of Labor and WWP.

In addition, less than an hour after the OCAB action finished, Power to the People began a protest in front of City Hall. Many of the people there were at the OCAB action, but others had just joined this event. Chants in favor of workers, in favor of Palestinian liberation and against the fascist Trump administration rang out from the crowd.

Hundreds of union and community members rallied and marched through Cleveland’s Near West Side on May Day. Rallies had been called by two groups, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Mayday Coalition Project, whose actions were held jointly at the same location. Both groups had demonstrations in various Ohio cities. PSL raised demands such as “Money for people’s needs, not the war machine” and the Project built its action around “Protect the working class.”

There was a sprinkling of signs expressing solidarity with Palestine, although it was not the dominant theme. Some of the speakers — who were all union activists — addressed the issue.

Another May Day celebration took place on May 3 in downtown Cleveland, called by the Cleveland May Day Coalition (a different group than the Project, which is a registered nonprofit and seems to have ties to the Democratic Party). This rally had more than two dozen labor, community and leftist groups endorsing. A number of speakers blasted capitalism and imperialism, stressed the need for working-class solidarity, condemned Trump’s attacks on federal workers and emphasized solidarity with Palestine. 

Several hundred participants stood out in unseasonably cold and rainy weather for hours to hear all the presentations. The rally began with music from the Cleveland Resistance Action Brass Band. Speakers and emcees represented Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Starbucks Workers United, InterReligious Task Force on Central America and Colombia, Service Employees Union 1199, American Federation of Government Employees and the American Association of University Professors. Other speakers represented the Ohio Poor People’s Campaign, Peoples World, Avanzamos Unidos, Students for Justice in Palestine, Cleveland Palestinian Advocacy Community, Palestinian Youth Movement, LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland, Workers World Party and Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

Hands Off! and 50501 hosted rallies in various small cities and towns throughout West Virginia on May 1. Hundreds of people attended the May Day rally in Huntington and the crowd was multinational, multigenerational and multigendered. Members and supporters of Workers World Party participated and carried a banner that read, “There’s No Borders in the Workers Fight!” Workers World newspapers were very well received. 

An estimated 2,000 people gathered in Atlanta at the State Capitol for a rally and march through the downtown area that targeted a federal building and ICE headquarters before ending at City Hall. The protest signs addressed multiple issues from supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s fired workers to defending immigrants to impeaching Trump. 

The organizing coalition brought together a broad grouping of organized labor, community, student and LGBTQIA2S+ activists, as well as members of immigrant rights, faith-based and environmental organizations.  Chants for “Free Palestine!” and “Stop Cop City!” were among those raised from the sound truck.  Many participants were hopeful that Atlanta would continue to hold May Day demonstrations every year in the future.

Huge turnout where May Day began

Tens of thousands of people joined the rally and march in the birthplace of May Day, Chicago, on May 1. The event was organized by Consejo de Resistencia en Defensa del Inmigrante, the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda and the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Organized labor and various progressive organizations played a major role within the coalitions.

Several marches came together in one huge convergence that Democracy Now! estimated to be 250,000 strong! There was a pro-immigrant rights march with multiple community groups, Palestine and United Farm Workers flags; mostly chanting in Spanish. It was very vibrant and enthusiastic!

The Chicago Teachers Union, National Nurses United and Service Employees International Union had a powerful presence. Activists from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign/ Poor People’s Army and various Marxist collectives were in attendance.

Attendees braved the rain and marched through downtown from Union Park to Grant Park. Speakers at the beginning of the rally, as well as at the end, included Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and several labor and immigrant rights activists.

A major focus of the rally was protection of the city’s migrant community against ICE and the Trump administration. Many of the May Day participants also wore keffiyehs and waved Palestinian flags to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Houston calls for rights for all workers

It was an unusually cool sunny day in Houston on May 3, but local activists were HOT! They marched and passionately rallied to demand, “Full rights for immigrants and ALL workers!” The event was organized by the Houston Coalition for Immigrant Rights. 

AVE Wheelchair Association, a group of disabled activists, led the march through a neighborhood populated by immigrants from Mexico, Central America, Africa and Asia. Martina Grifaldo, director of Alianza Latino Internacional, chaired the rally. Speakers included Noe Ramirez with AVE Wheelchair Association, Kristi Pham with 50501 and a representative of the Texas Organizing Project.

The multinational crowd reflected Houston’s diversity. About 30% of the city’s 2.3 million residents were born in another country, according to the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Communities Survey. This reporter, speaking at the rally for Workers World Party, concluded her remarks by saying, “Instead of the government in D.C. cutting the Department of Education, they must eliminate the Pentagon, which spends billions of our money funding the Zionists committing genocide against the people of Palestine.”

May Day in the Pacific Northwest

As the U.S-Israeli imperialist war on Gaza has been extended to a domestic war against the workers in the U.S., 4,000 workers marched on the federal building in Seattle on May Day. The march was called by the Martin Luther King, Jr. County Labor Council (MLK Labor).

Extended rallies were held at both ends of the march. The Service Employees Union (SEIU) and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) both had big contingents, with the UFCW chanting, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” Other contingents included Professional & Technical Employees Local 17 (PROTEC17), Domestic Workers Alliance, UNITE HERE Local 8, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Teamsters, Casa Latina and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

The American Federation of Teachers and two other unions at Seattle Community College who are fighting budget cuts held a mid-day walkout with student supporters to join the march.

Thousands of people demonstrated across Oregon on May 1 – at the capitol in Salem, at Portland State University and at two locations in downtown Portland, with over 1,000 people gathering at Pioneer Courthouse Square. The Portland Association of Teachers and Jobs with Justice rally, which drew a militant crowd, protested the attacks on public education and the drastic federal job cuts. 

Demonstrators carried placards in support of the Palestinians facing genocide at the hands of Israel and the U.S. They condemned the increase in deportations and horrific treatment of immigrants in Oregon. “There have been many attacks on our immigrant community, from executive orders to ICE being able to now have free rein,” said Reyna Lopez, executive director of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, an advocacy group for Oregon farm workers that helped organize the Salem rally. (tinyurl.com/sppbtfw3)

Protests continued through the weekend.

Otis Grotewohl, Stephanie Hedgecoke, Will Hodgkinson, Dianne Mathiowetz, Jim McMahan, Tony Murphy, Lyn Neeley, Betsey Piette, Alex Quinn, Arjae Red and Gloria Rubac contributed to this article.