Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2025/05/may-day-labor-day-international-workers.html
What’s at Stake: “Our movement is historic: every year on International Workers Day, millions of people take to the streets around the world, commemorating workers’ struggles of the past and building power for the future.”
CONTENTS
Fayetteville, AR MAYDAY 2025
NYC Mobilization
Win Without War WWW
Progressive Change Campaign Committee PCCC
Progressive Caucus Action Fund PCAF
People Power United
Veterans for Peace Social Media Toolkit – Google Drive
UUSJ Enews
(2024 articles that arrived too late for inclusion in 2024 Anthology.)
TEXTS
May Day Workers Day Picnic of UA Education Assoc/Local 965 & NWA Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
Time Thursday, May 1 5:30 – 8pm CDT
Veterans Memorial Park large pavilion 4451 N Vantage Dr
About this event The annual May Day Workers Day picnic of UA-Fayetteville Education Association/Local 965 (https://arkansas965.org) and the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council (AFL-CIO) will be 5:30-8 p.m. Thursday, May 1, 2025, at the large pavilion of Fayetteville’s Veterans Memorial Park. This year it’s part of the nationwide May Day Strong program, which its organizers describe below. . . . Volunteer Opportunities, Events, and Petitions Near Me · May Day Strong on Mobilize
Stand united this May Day!
MAY DAY 2025!
In NYC, we will join hands with workers around the world as we stand up against the right-wing billionaire agenda of Trump’s White House and in solidarity the people of Palestine.
Our movement is historic: every year on International Workers Day, millions of people take to the streets around the world, commemorating workers’ struggles of the past and building power for the future. Now more then ever, we are stronger together. Join us in building solidarity as we struggle against the attacks on the working class at home and stand with all people in the struggle against U.S. imperialism around the world.
Portside Snapshot – May 1, 2025 | |
| Workers Defy the Billionaire Takeover on May Day Luis Feliz Leon April 30, 2025 In These Times A guide to May Day 2025 actions. |
WIN WITHOUT WAR
Dick: Trump and his billionaire profiteers are trying to create a race to the bottom — on wages, on benefits, on dignity itself.
This May Day we’re resisting. Commemorating the sacrifices of workers who fought for union rights and the eight-hour workday, we are fighting for a country that puts our families over billionaires’ fortunes: healthcare and housing over tanks and missiles, peace and prosperity over Pentagon contractors and war profiteers. We will not be silent as Trump and Musk defund humanitarian aid, target immigrants and students with fear and violence, and plow hundreds of billions more to weapons and war. Last month, hundreds of thousands of people (including our ED Sara Haghdoosti!) across all 50 states rallied to say Hands Off our social services. Hands Off our rights. Hands Off our communities.
Today, across over 1,000 May Day events, Win Without War is supporting a national day of action organized by labor unions and working people who demand a country that is more fair, just, equitable, and free for all — and not just a chosen few.
Why today on May Day, International Worker’s Day? Working people built this nation and there’s so much we can learn from the victories and struggles of the labor movement in our ongoing struggles today. The government takeover by oligarchs like Trump and Musk have laid bare: Only we can be counted on to take care of each other. So whether or not you’re able to attend a May Day event today, your activism won’t end there. Mutual aid is one of the most effective ways we can be there for one another as Trump tries to tear us down. In this moment, that especially means defending our immigrant neighbors who are increasingly under attack by this rogue administration. Win Without War has assembled a list of just a few of the many organizations across the country providing tangible support:
Informed Immigrant is an all-encompassing, trusted resource for immigrants. They provide written legal resources concerning detentions and deportations, healthcare resources, information about education, and even run a directory for finding legal assistance.
KYR App reads your rights out loud to ICE officers, allows users to send a text message to pre-set contacts in the case of potential detainment, and helps develop a preparedness plan. It takes ten times the resources for ICE to detain someone who knows their rights than someone who does not, which is why the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium created this easily accessible Know Your Rights app.
Immigration Advocates Network is a directory for immigration legal services. You can search for providers by state, county, or detention facility to find organizations that provide free or low-cost immigration legal services.
Migrant Clinicians Network is increasing access to healthcare for immigrants across the country by connecting people with care when they need it and bolstering the clinicians who serve them.
Share these organizations with your friends, family, and community, support them as you’re able, and even bookmark them for your own reference. You can visit our website to find even more resources, including state-specific organizations!
Now and always, our job is to defend communities facing violence and injustice. Together, we will never stop fighting for our families and the rights and freedoms that ensure people can thrive in peace and safety.
| Thank you for your activism and commitment to peace, The Win Without War team Donate |
| A U.S. foreign policy rooted in human rights and justice won’t happen overnight. If you’re with us for the long haul, consider a monthly donation. |
“TODAY: Take a stand for workers’ rights.”
Donald Trump and Elon Musk just marked 100 days of kicking working people in the teeth so they can make billionaires even richer. Today—International Workers’ Day—Americans from Anchorage to Miami are rallying, marching, and picketing to say: Enough! Will you join one of more than 1,100 May Day rallies happening today across the country?
Yes! I’ll find my local May Day rally here and RSVP now. No, I can’t, but I’ll chip in $3 to help flood the streets with workers today!
We will make it clear: Workers are done footing the bill for Trump, Elon Musk, and the rest of the billionaire class. . . .
See you out there. — The PCCC Team (Follow us on BlueSky: @BoldProgressives.org)
PCAF Progressive Caucus Action Fund
Dear James,
Across the country, our communities are reeling from the Trump Administration’s first 100 days. We’ve faced devastating cuts to essential programs our families count on, the mass firing of dedicated federal workers, chaos from tariffs and funding freezes, and crackdowns on our basic freedoms.
This May Day we are standing united.
We are demanding a country that puts our families over their fortunes—working people over billionaires, public schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, and freedom over fear. This is May Day.
We’re standing on the shoulders of the working people who fought for the eight-hour day and their right to organize. Together, we are fighting for a country that works for all of us, not just a few billionaires and big corporations.
Check out our new toolkit for tips on how to make your voice heard and join with organizations and everyday people across the country who are standing up this May Day. . . .
Message paid for by the Progressive Caucus Action Fund (501(c)(4)). The merchant of record is ActBlue Civics, Inc. We receive and process those donations and subsequently give them to the organization or cause indicated on the contribution form within 30 days. Contributions to Progressive Caucus Action Fund are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Progressive Caucus Action Fund
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Grab Your Sign—It’s May Day and We’re Rising
”We Ride at Dawn: When, Where & Why: The May Day Mobilization Guide” BY Laurie Woodward Garcia and People Power United. Apr 30, 2025.
Dear Friends and Fighters for Freedom. . . .
This May 1st, our movement rises—not in silence, but in strength, unity, and purpose. Across all 50 states, from small towns to sprawling cities, and in over 1,000 communities, people are stepping into the streets to declare: Enough is enough. Together, we are part of a force of nearly 100,000 workers, immigrants, students, and families joining in 1,300+ May Day actions to fight for dignity, justice, and liberation. Here is how you can plug in:
1. Check out this list of MAY DAY events, rallies, and protests happening near you
2. Check out these MAY DAY event maps
3. Click here to check out our Civic Engagement Guide: How to Make an Impact at a Protest or Rally
4. Click here for a guide to de-escalation
5. Click here for know your rights
6. Click here to learn more about protest laws in your state
7. Click here for the list of 100 ideas for a sign or chants
8. Share this with like minded friends and family to help us get the word out.
Why We March
We are rising for workers, for immigrants, and for our future.
We are rising against a “Billionaire Agenda” that is bleeding our communities dry while billionaires buy yachts, politicians, and power. In just 100 days of the Trump administration, we’ve already witnessed:
· Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and education
· Attacks on immigrants, trans people, and communities of color
· Move to give Tax breaks to the ultra-rich while working families struggle to survive
But we are not alone, and we are not powerless.
People are rising together—across race, immigration status, gender, and geography—to demand a country that invests in working families, not billionaire profits.
This May Day, we unite for:
· An end to billionaire control and political corruption
· Fully funded schools, healthcare, and housing
· Protection and expansion of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and services for our Veterans, Seniors, and care givers
· Respect, safety, and rights for Black, Indigenous, immigrant, LGBTQIA+, and our disabled communities
· Strong unions, fair wages, and dignity for all workers
And we do it nonviolently—with courage, compassion, and clarity. Every May Day host and participant is committed to peace, de-escalation, and collective power.
This is your invitation. Not just to witness history—but to make it.
Join us this May Day. March beside your neighbors, your coworkers, your classmates. Stand up for what is right. Speak out for who is ignored. And never forget—when we rise together, we win together.
With fierce resolve and people power,
Laurie Woodward Garcia People Power United
www.peoplepowerunited.org
People Power United: America’s Voice for Progress & Actions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
© 2025 Laurie Woodward
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104
Veterans for Peace [VFP-all] “Re: Social Media Toolkit for tomorrow, May Day 2025” by ‘Eric & Hoa Herter’ via VFP-all vfp-all@googlegroups.com via uark.onmicrosoft.com . to peaceworks
Social Media Toolkit – Google Drive
Eric Herter Pacific Productions 0384256315
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Unitarian Universalist Association offers a comprehensive faith in action of j”ustice, equity, democracy, and compassion.”
“Unpacking Trump’s Attack On Federal Sector Unions” By Nicholas Handler, Portside. Popular Resistance.org (5-1-25). On March 28, President Trump issued an executive order purporting to bar federal workers at dozens of federal agencies and subdivisions from joining labor unions or entering into collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with the federal government. Initial reporting suggests that the order could strip two-thirds of unionized federal workforce, or nearly 700,000 civil servants, of their collective bargaining rights. Following the issuance of the order, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum directing the named agencies to implement the president’s directive, which presumably will… -more-
2024 articles that arrived after publication of May 1, 2024, Anthology
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OMNI
MAY DAY LABOR DAY INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY, MAY 1, 2024
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2024/04/omni-may-day-labor-day-international.html
“International Labour Day 2024: Date, history, significance and all that you need to know.” ByTapatrisha Das, Delhi. Hindustan Times. Apr 30, 2024 .
International Labour Day 2024: From date to significance, here’s all that you need to know about the special day.
International Labour Day 2024: The workers and the working class are the driving force of a country. They are the ones who do most of the work to initiate development. The nation and the state are built by its infrastructure, development and the economy. The workers get down to the roots of things and start work at the basic level to initiate positive changes to the country and the world. Workers and the working class are extremely important as they are the backbone of a society. We should ensure that we take care of their wellbeing regularly and listen to their issues. Every year, International Labour Day is observed to raise awareness about the struggles and the contributions of the workers and the working class to society. As we gear up to observe the special day, here are a few things that must be kept in mind.
ALSO READ: International Labour Day 2020: Why we celebrate May Day
Date:
Every year, May 1 is observed as International Labour Day. This year, International Labour Day falls on Wednesday.
History:
In 1886, a large demonstration happened in America where the labourers demanded eight hours of work on a daily basis. However, soon the demonstration went out of hand and lot of people got hurt. This incident came to be known as The Haymarket Affair. This incident marked the start of the International Labour Day. In 1889, a lot of socialist parties in Europe came together and decided to celebrate May 1 as International Labour Day. Since then, the special day has been observed every year on the same day.
Significance:
International Labour Day helps us to recognise the contributions of the labourers and the working class in development of the society and the country. It also urges the labourers to learn about their rights. Labourers are often exploited, and it is important that they know their rights to protect themselves. It also urges people to come together to develop the working and living conditions of the workers.
Tapatrisha is Content Producer with Hindustan Times. She covers stories related to health, relationships, and fashion.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the traditional spring holiday, see May Day. For other labour-related holidays, see Labour Day (disambiguation).
International Workers’ Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries[1] and often referred to as May Day,[2][3] is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May,[4][5] or the first Monday in May.
In 1889, the Marxist International Socialist Congress met in Paris and established the Second International as a successor to the earlier International Workingmen’s Association. They adopted a resolution for a “great international demonstration” in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day. The 1 May date was chosen by the American Federation of Labor to commemorate a general strike in the United States, which had begun on 1 May 1886 and culminated in the Haymarket affair four days later. The demonstration subsequently became a yearly event.[5] The 1904 Sixth Conference of the Second International, called on “all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace“.[6]
The 1st of May, or first Monday in May, is a national public holiday in many countries, in most cases as “International Workers’ Day” or a similar name. Some countries celebrate a Labour Day on other dates significant to them, such as the United States and Canada, which celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday of September.[7] In 1955, the Catholic Church dedicated 1 May to “Saint Joseph the Worker”. Saint Joseph is the patron saint of workers and craftsmen, among others.[8][9]
Origin[edit]
On 21 April 1856, Australian stonemasons in Victoria undertook a mass stoppage as part of the eight-hour workday movement.[10] It became a yearly commemoration, inspiring American workers to have their first stoppage.[11] 1 May was chosen to be International Workers’ Day to commemorate the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago.[12] In that year beginning on 1 May, there was a general strike for the eight-hour workday. On 4 May, the police acted to disperse a public assembly in support of the strike when an unidentified person threw a bomb. The police responded by firing on the workers. The event led to the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; sixty police officers were injured, as were one hundred and fifteen civilians.[13][14] Hundreds of labour leaders and sympathizers were later rounded-up and four were executed by hanging, after a trial that was seen as a miscarriage of justice.[15][nb 1] The following day on 5 May, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the state militia fired on a crowd of strikers killing seven, including a schoolboy and a man feeding chickens in his yard.[17]
In 1889, the first meeting of the Second International was held in Paris, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne [fr] that called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests.[5] On 1 May 1890, the call encouraged May Day demonstrations took place in the United States and most countries in Europe.[18] Demonstrations were also held in Chile and Peru.[18] May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International’s second congress in 1891.[19][20] Subsequently, the May Day riots of 1894 occurred. The International Socialist Congress, Amsterdam 1904 called on “all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.”[6] The congress made it “mandatory upon the proletarian organisations of all countries to stop work on 1 May, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers.”[6]
In the United States and Canada, a September holiday, called Labor or Labour Day, was first proposed in the 1880s. In 1882, Matthew Maguire, a machinist, first proposed a Labor Day holiday on the first Monday of September[nb 2] while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union (CLU) of New York.[21] Others argue that it was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882,[22] after witnessing the annual labour festival held in Toronto, Canada.[23] In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the United States to make it an official public holiday. By the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty US states officially celebrated Labor Day.[22] Thus by 1887 in North America, Labour Day was an established, official holiday but in September,[24] not on 1 May.
Today, the majority of countries around the world celebrate a workers’ day on 1 May.
“ALL OUT FOR PALESTINE ON MAY DAY.” AROC <info@araborganizing.org> April 29, 2024.
Wednesday, May 1st, 2024.
This International Workers Day, as Israel’s genocide of Palestinians unfolds in Gaza, we rise to the call by Palestinian workers and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions to demand an end to US complicity in Israel’s war against our homelands. We honor and uphold the radical legacy of labor and an internationalist struggle for human dignity, solidarity, racial justice, social justice, and an end to war and exploitation across the world.
Join us for three actions across the Bay Area this May Day 2024!
San Francisco for a May Day March and Rally
May 1st, 10am 24th Street BART Plaza
Fight for a San Francisco for its working-class residents! Collective power and resources for our working-class communities, not to big businesses, war, or the police! Solidarity with the people of Palestine, end the state-sponsored violence of Israel and the US! Click here to endorse or volunteer.
Join Oakland Sin Fronteras for a May Day March and Rally
May 1st, 2pm
Oakland Federal Building
For the first time since 2019 Oakland Sin Fronteras is back!
International Workers’ Day has been a time to uplift the struggles, honor the sacrifices, and celebrate the triumphs of working people across the world. As we stand on Ohlone Indigenous land this May 1st, we march in celebration and in resistance with our families, friends, neighbors, and co-workers in our communities, and in solidarity with working people across all borders, to continue the historic struggle against economic and social inequity.
As the working class in Oakland, we march for a #FreePalestine
Oakland Port Shutdown
May 1st, 4pm Meet at West Oakland BART
For updates: text “Gaza” to (833) 6330604
Click here to endorse
This May Day, we rise to the call to action by workers of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions. Palestinian workers urge us “to stand in solidarity with our struggle and take decisive action to honour the countless martyrs lost and the families torn apart, and build pressure for a free Palestine.”
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Move to Amend on May Day 2023. Apr 29, 2023 Happy International Workers Day (AKA May Day)! We stand in solidarity from the imperial core of the United States with the exploited nations (sometimes referred to as “third world” or “developing nations”) and workers around the world. We know that wealth is stolen from workers and given to the elites, as well as from the exploited world to the imperial core. We are working from within this system on minimizing the ability for corporate greed to exploit our system. And how do we do that? With people power, of course!
The #WeThePeopleAmendment is more important than ever to workers and the labor movement. Join Move to Amend with your fellow workers today to pass the #WeThePeopleAmendment to end corporate constitutional rights once and for all!
You can also join our Labor Caucus, where we discuss how the intersections of the labor movement and corporate rule.
We stand in solidarity with those on strike including Coca Cola workers, frontline of COVID workers, including educators and healthcare workers, and congratulate Rutger’s University staff for their recent strike!
Together, the workers of the world will win!
Thank you for helping us make the connections that will grow and strengthen the movement against corporate rule!
PS: Did you miss our May Day commemoration video about East Palestine? You can watch it here. Solidarity forever!
Move to Amend
http://www.movetoamend.org/
“Amazon shows us the many faces of worker alienation and resistance today.” Editor. Mronline.org (4-19-23).
Marxist Sociology Blog on April 5, 2023 by Sarrah Kassem (more by Marxist Sociology Blog).(Posted Apr 18, 2023).
Human Rights, Imperialism, Inequality, LaborUnited StatesNewswire, ReviewAmazon, Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), Google, Meta, Uber
Once again we find ourselves in moments of economic crisis. As we battle through inflation and rounds of devaluation, thousands of workers around the world have lost their livelihoods. Yet amidst this all, we have seen workers across the globe go on strike and protest. A manifestation of these inequalities of our world today can be seen in the platform economy with transnational players like Amazon, Google and Meta. This also includes platforms which have become a contemporary embodiment of precarity: gig platforms like Uber and its Uber Eats or Amazon Mechanical Turk. In my book, I take a closer look at the workers who power the platform economy behind the interfaces to investigate more closely the different ways by which platforms alienate workers and how workers claim their agency and collectively organize. MORE click on title. See: Sarrah Kassem. Work and Alienation in the Platform Economy: Amazon and the Power of Organization. Bristol UP, 2023. Sarrah Kassem is Lecturer and Research Associate in Political Economy at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Tübingen. Her work focuses on workers in the platform economy and their different forms of labor organization.
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END MAY DAY 2025