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 kicked off Friday morning and early 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 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 planned to take 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. 

New York’s largest gathering in the day of protest is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Washington Square Park. 

“There is no NYC without unions,” New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on Friday. 

“A people united and organized cannot be defeated. Together, we're showing the world what solidarity means.”

Chicago

A rally was scheduled to begin in Chicago’s Union Park at 1 p.m. Central Time, followed by a march downtown beginning at 2.

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 scheduled 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 is set to culminate in a large gathering on the Boston Common at 4:30 p.m.

“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 was planned to kick off at 10 a.m. Pacific Time in Los Angeles’MacArthur Park, leading into a roughly three-mile march to Grand Park in the city’s downtown. Thousands of workers and activists were expected to attend. 

The rally is 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 are expected gather in the hundreds at 11 a.m. Pacific Time at the airport’s international terminal. 

Then at 2 p.m., a march is scheduled from the city’s Civic Center Plaza to the Federal Building and the Salesforce Tower.

At 4 p.m., a "Workers Over Billionaires Rally" is planned to take place at the Embarcadero Plaza.

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.