May Day Rallies Across U.S. Press Wage and Tax Demands

Labor unions and activist groups held rallies, marches and walkouts in cities across the United States on Friday, May Day, pressing for higher pay, higher taxes on the wealthy and an end to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The events were organized under the banner May Day Strong, a coalition of hundreds of organizations, and were billed as an economic blackout of “no school, no work, no shopping,” Time reported.

PBS NewsHour reported that demonstrations took place around the world, with rising living costs tied to the war with Iran a recurring theme. The U.S. does not recognize May Day as a federal holiday. Organizers’ slogan, according to both outlets, was “workers over billionaires.” Time quoted organizers calling to “tax the rich” and saying “No ICE. No war.”

In New York, rallies were held in all five boroughs, and Time reported that several people were arrested outside the New York Stock Exchange, including Chuck Park, a Democratic congressional candidate, according to his campaign. Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke at the largest gathering, a late-afternoon rally in Washington Square Park. In Chicago, thousands attended a rally at Union Park, according to city police, and the Chicago Teachers Union asked the school system’s chief executive to close schools for the day; she kept them open, Time reported.

Time reported that hundreds of airport workers at San Francisco International marched with the union SEIU United Service Workers West, and that several public officials, including state Sen. Josh Becker, were arrested after blocking traffic. In Los Angeles, a march of roughly three miles was planned from MacArthur Park to Grand Park. In Raleigh, North Carolina, thousands of teachers and activists marched downtown, and school systems across the state canceled classes, Time said. The Sunrise Movement, a youth climate group, said more than 100,000 students would strike from school, according to Time.

The protests came as energy costs weigh on household budgets. PBS reported that workers are facing rising costs and reduced purchasing power connected to the Iran war, and that May Day marches in Asia, Europe and elsewhere carried similar complaints. A day earlier, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the first quarter, with inflation running above the Federal Reserve’s target, according to the Boston Globe.

The White House disputed the framing. Spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement carried by Time that the administration has “never wavered from standing up for American workers” and that “President Trump will always have the backs of American workers.” Economists quoted by Fox Business on Thursday said tax cuts are beginning to flow through to household budgets even as higher energy prices weigh on spending.

PBS noted that May Day traces to the American fight for an eight-hour workday in the 1880s, including a Chicago rally in May 1886, at Haymarket, that turned deadly. Time said this year’s events followed earlier “No Kings” protests against the president and economic blackouts in Minnesota earlier in the year. Organizers did not give a single national turnout figure on Friday, and the sizes of crowds reported here come from local police and organizers.