Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

may day

By staff

May Day march in Tacoma, Washington.

Tacoma WA – Around 1000 people took to the streets of Tacoma on May 1, to rally for immigrants and workers’ rights. The crowd gathered around 4 p.m. and began chanting with messages such as “Stand up and shut it down, Tacoma is a union town!” and “Power to the people! No one is illegal!” Energy was high, and the mood of the event was angry but also celebratory.

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By staff

Student activist Ryan Spalt leads chants at Baton Rouge's May Day rally in front of the state capitol.

Baton Rouge, LA – On Sunday, May 4, Baton Rouge held a May Day rally at the State Capitol building, taking the fight for worker and immigrant rights directly to the seat of the state government. Demonstrators united on the steps of the capitol with signs and banners in hand to voice their support for the working class movement and their opposition to the Trump administration’s attacks.

Protesters chanted, “Trump, hear us loud and clear! Immigrants are welcome here!” and “The workers, united, will never be defeated!”

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By staff

May Day in Atlanta.

Atlanta, GA – Labor organizers, students and community members gathered for a May 4 panel commemorating May Day and bridged the gap between organized labor and the fight against deportations. Reflecting on the origins of May Day in the Haymarket Affair and its subsequent revival in the U.S. with the 2006 Day without Immigrants mega marches. Attendees left the event charged up and ready to fight the anti-worker and anti-immigrant agenda of the Trump administration, both on the shop floor and in the streets.

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By staff

May Day in Oakland, California.

Oakland, CA – On the afternoon of Thursday, May 1, more than 2000 community members took to the streets of Oakland in celebration of May Day.

Themes of international working-class solidarity ran through the event, starting with a youth rally in Fruitvale Plaza followed by a march to San Antonio Park where a closing rally and resource fair took place. 25 unions, grassroots organizations, and nonprofits united behind Oakland Sin Fronteras’ call, “All Power to the Workers.”

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By staff

May Day march in Santa Ana, California.

Santa Ana, CA – Chants of “No hate, no fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” resounded on the afternoon of May 1 as roughly 300 protesters took to the streets of downtown. The march commemorated International Workers Day. Those in the streets lifted handmade monarch butterfly puppets and signs demanding police accountability, justice for immigrants, and protection for workers’ rights. The event program featured speakers who talked about the history of May Day and the oppression of workers.

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By staff

May Day event in Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs, CO – On Saturday, May 3, the Denver district of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) held a panel in Colorado Springs about the history of International Workers Day, also known as May Day. The event was hosted by three FRSO members who formed a panel that spoke on the history of the holiday and discussed present-day issues that face workers and immigrants alike in Colorado and across the United States.

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By staff

May Day celebration in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday, May 3, the Twin Cities district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization celebrated the great proletarian holiday of May Day – International Workers Day. The event took place at the Lucy Parsons Center in Minneapolis. The celebration included grilling, live musical performances, and a lineup of speakers from various people’s movements active in the Twin Cities.

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By Sebastian Salinas and Philip Nguyen

International Workers Day rally in San Jose, California.  | Photo: Fight Back! News

San Jose, CA – On May 1, over 1500 people gathered in San Jose for the annual International Workers Day march and rally. The event, organized by the San Jose May Day Coalition, called for a “Day Without an Immigrant” in response to recent attacks on workers and immigrants under the Trump administration.

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By staff

May Day rally in Tallahassee, Florida.

Tallahassee, FL – On Thursday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m., around 40 people attended a May Day rally organized by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The protesters demanded the city of Tallahassee end its attacks on immigrants in the city and denounce the 287(g) agreement with ICE.

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By staff

NYU students rally on May Day. | Fight Back! News staff

New York, NY – On May 1, around 50 NYU students, faculty, alumni and community members gathered at Garibaldi Plaza to demand NYU take further steps to protect its non-citizen students and faculty and to honor union contracts.

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By staff

Protesters on a grassy hill.

Iron Mountain, MI – In a powerful display of unity and defiance, approximately 150 people gathered in the heart of this traditionally conservative town on Saturday, May 3, to commemorate International Workers’ Day. The May Day rally, organized by local activists and labor leaders, signaled a growing tide of resistance to Trump and a renewed commitment to solidarity in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

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By Simon Rowe

Tampa, FL – On Saturday May 3, over 400 workers and community members gathered at Centennial Park in Ybor City to celebrate International Workers Day. The West Central Florida Labor Council hosted the event. For one hour, protesters listened to speeches and led pro-worker and pro-immigrant chants before a one-mile march through the streets of Ybor City.

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By staff

Denver, CO – On May 1, hundreds of people came out for International Workers Day in solidarity with workers all around the world. Chants and demands included “No to deportations!” “No one is illegal” and “Legalization for all!”

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By Izzy McCabe

Thousands march in Seattle on International Workers Day.

Seattle, WA – On May 1, over 2000 gathered at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle to celebrate International Workers Day, or May Day. Community organizations, labor unions and local community members marched through the streets demanding an end to Trump’s attacks on immigrant and workers’ rights and rallied for a fighting labor movement.

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By staff

New Orleanians take the streets downtown to demand an end to attacks on workers, immigrants, and that NOPD not collaborate with ICE.

New Orleans LA – On May 1, New Orleans buzzed with activity to celebrate International Workers Day. In the morning, nurses at the University Medical Center (UMC) went on strike, with dozens picketing alongside them for hours. And later in the day at 6 p.m. hundreds gathered for a march to fight for immigrants and workers’ rights.

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By Amber-Jane Jones

DC activists at Freedom Plaza for International Workers Day.

Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, May 1, hundreds gathered in Freedom Plaza near the White House in celebration of May Day, International Workers Day. The event, hosted by Metro DC DSA and sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organization DC (FRSO DC), among others, called for “dignity, power, and a future for the many.”

The crowd included many organizations and contingents, such as the anti-Imperialist contingent formed by FRSO DC, the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR), International League of Peoples Struggles Baltimore DMV (ILPS), Anakbayan DC, Anakbayan Montgomery County, and Migrante DMV. Their signs featured slogans such as “End U.S. militarization now!” “Fight for worker’s and immigrants’ rights!” and “Down with billionaires, we need socialism!”

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By staff

May Day march in LA.

Los Angeles, CA – For the 10th consecutive year, hundreds of workers, students and activists joined Centro CSO for its May Day in Boyle Heights march and rally. For this year’s event, CSO raised two main demands: “Legalization 4 All” and “No to Deportations” as part of the movement against Trump’s attacks on immigrants.

After a spirited rally at the historic Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, protesters marched to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison where immigrants are incarcerated.

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By Alexandra Westberry

Massive International Workers Day march in Chicago.

Chicago IL – Over 35,000 immigrants and their supporters filled the streets of Chicago on May 1, demanding an end to Trump’s attacks on immigrants and workers.

Led by the Consejo de Resistencia en Defensa del Inmigrante, the mass rally brought together over 150 organizations, mostly composed of Latino, Arab and Palestinian, Filipino and Korean immigrants and their supporters.

Consejo inherited the legacy of the March 10th Movement of 2006. That year, Chicago staged the first mega march in the country, with 300,000 marchers against the racist Sensenbrenner Bill, which would have made it a felony to be undocumented.

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By staff

Massive May Day march in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee, WI – On the morning of May 1, over 5000 people rallied and marched in Milwaukee under the banner of “A Day Without Immigrants and Workers.”

May 1 is a day of protest and celebration internationally to display the strength of worker solidarity. With Trump’s continued attacks on immigration, the people of Milwaukee and various organizations came out in force this year to stand in solidarity with the immigrant communities that define the city.

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By staff

May Day in New York City.

New York, NY – Thousands gathered in neighborhoods around the city on May 1 to celebrate International Workers Day. As this day is important for the people on the left, different events throughout the day pepper the streets calling for immigrants and workers’ rights.

Members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization attended these different events as solidarity contingents.

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