In the United States, hundreds of thousands of people marched and rallied in more than 1000 cities across the country on May 1, International Workers’ Day.
Trade unionists were prominent in their support of sacked federal workers and for migrant labour and political rights.
Tens of thousands of people across the globe also used May Day demonstrations to oppose US President Donald Trump's agenda — from his trade war to his mass deportations of migrants. US residents and tourists joined protests in some cities.
Trump has made reversing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies and defeating “woke-ism” central to his agenda.
As reported by Associated Press, protesters held a “boisterous rally” outside the White House in Washington DC.
“[T]he antidote to anxiety is action,” Ginge Sivingy told Yahoo! News.
AP reported that Senator Bernie Sanders spoke at the May Day rally outside Philadelphia's City Hall, after which the crowd took to the streets.
“Dozens sat in an intersection wearing signs reading ‘workers over billionaires’, and police began taking some of them into custody, leading them to nearby buses.”
In Los Angeles, AP reported that thousands of demonstrators marched, holding signs saying, "Immigrants make America great”.
April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 2 million workers, told the rally: "We're bringing the fight to the billionaires and politicians who are trying to divide us with fear and lies."
As crowds gathered in LA, Yolanda Mims-Reed that she was there "to stand in solidarity" for the things "we need to fight for".
"We need fair wages. We need our jobs to not be outsourced. We need immigration rights," she said. "We need them not bringing ICE onto our campuses and we also need decent wages and respect."
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May Day’s origins
May Day protests were also held in Chicago, Illinois – the birthplace of May Day.
On May 1, 1886, a massive strike wave erupted in the US in support of an eight-hour working day.
As Jonathon Singer wrote in 91̳: “The movement was strongest in Chicago, where 80,000 people took part.
“Chicago employers fought back with lockouts, police harassment and the employment of strike-breakers. On May 4, a peaceful protest meeting was called. As it came to a close, the cops ordered the meeting to disperse. A bomb was thrown at the police, probably by an agent provocateur, and police fired into the crowd, killing many.
“Eight anarchist-influenced revolutionaries were found guilty and seven were sentenced to death… although no evidence was produced to show their involvement.”
Some 139 years later, activists used the May Day protest as a call to action against Trump's policies.
As reported by CBS News, protesters gathered in Union Park for a rally that started with a multi-faith prayer service followed by speakers.
Activists sang together, held signs and posters of monarch butterflies — a species that knows no borders in its annual migration.
Julie Allpow of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois told CBS News: “I think it just says how much our freedoms are intertwined … none of us are free until we are all free."
In Detroit, Frank Hammer, a labor activist and former president of the United Auto Workers Local 909 told : “We are embracing May Day and putting the ruling class on notice that we are here to fight as one united working class.”
As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, thousands of demonstrators gathered at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza on May Day.
Kim Evon, executive vice president of Service Employees International Union Local 2015, told the SFC the rally offered an opportunity for people frustrated with the current state of politics to get active.
“You don’t have to stand for what is happening,” Evon said. “When we’re united — across our differences and our journeys — with a vision of what this country should look like and how it should treat its people, we can fend off any attack.”
Many demonstrators came with other messages pushing back against Trump, calling for action against climate change and supporting Palestine.
Migrant workers also participated, despite the government’s crackdown. Silvia, who did not want to share her last name, told the SFC: “We are here to be recognised as the workers … who support the US economy with our labor.”
Juan Alberto Silva, a member of Oakland Workers' Collective, told the SFC: “We didn’t come to this country to steal or commit crimes. We came to work and get ahead.”
People brought along homemade signs with messages such as “Courage is contagious”, “Free Kilmar” (referring to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father and Salvadoran immigrant wrongly deported) and “Immigration built this nation”.
After the speeches, the rally marched through the Financial District to the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.
In Atlanta, hundreds gathered at a park across from the state Capitol, including retired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) workers. The CDC’s headquarters are in Atlanta and it is expected to lose about 2400 employees due to government cuts.
"We really want to stand up for all of our fellow laborers who were laid off or just fired with no real reason," said Deblina Datta, who retired in 2023. “[W]ithout the CDC, bad things will happen."
In New York City, the media reports that hundreds of lawyers and their supporters gathered in Lower Manhattan for a rally to decry the Trump administration's disrespect of the legal system.
Hours later, a few thousand people gathered in the same square for the May Day march. Unionists and others carried LGBTQ flags and signs condemning Trump's crackdown on immigrants.
Veronica Salama, the lawyer representing Columbia University postgraduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, told the rally that Khalil’s arrest sends a message "that anyone who disagrees with this president will face consequences".
"This is about all of us in the face of escalating repression."
Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told another rally at NYC’s Foley Square: “The Trump administration should be afraid of the power of labor and everyday workers across the country. When they see us gather in the street, you should know that when I go back to Washington, they talk about it, and they are getting very afraid. They are getting nervous...”
She and Sanders have given this message at rallies, including in areas that voted for Trump, across the country as part of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
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Palestine
“Palestine is the center of the world,” said longtime political activist, scholar, and socialist Angela Davis at the national conference of Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP), on May 1-4 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Pro-Palestine signs and banners were visible at the May Day protests.
Davis’ point is critical, as Trump’s support for Israel’s genocidal war includes weaponising antisemitism to target international students.
USA Today reported on May 2 that “[f]oreign nationals visiting or living in the country legally could lose their visa status if they run afoul of the law under the new and unforgiving so-called ‘catch and revoke’ policy, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.”
Even naturalised citizens born in other countries could lose their status and be arrested and deported.
The size of the May 1 protests indicates that resistance will continue until the powers that be, including Wall Street executives, decide Trump must not be allowed to overturn the political and social gains of the past 70 years.