May Day in the US was a day of resistance to Trump’s rotten agenda of mass deportations, imperialist wars abroad, and war on the working class at home.
May Day Strong recorded 5000 demonstrations across the US on Friday 1 May, with over a million people rallying to demand “no ICE [Immigration Customs Enforcement], no war, no billionaires”.
It saw the call for a day of “no work, no school, no shopping”, raised on the 23 January strike in Minneapolis against ICE, spread nationally.
This has put the working class and the idea of a general strike at the centre of resistance to Trump.
The May Day rallies were supported by the National Education Association and many local unions. The 50501 movement and Indivisible—groups behind the “No Kings” demonstrations—also promoted them.
In North Carolina 22 school districts cancelled classes because so many teachers took leave to protest. A “Kids Over Corporations” rally in its capital, Raleigh, was one of the largest labour actions ever in the state, demanding governments fund public schools. The state has the lowest public school funding in the US.
The Chicago Teachers Union organised for thousands of students to go on field trips to learn about civic rights instead of going to class. This came after months of negotiations with the Public School authority, which resisted calls to make 1 May a professional development day where students would have the day off and teachers could join demonstrations.
Striking Nurses in Maine demanded Maine Health end its contract with Palantir—the notorious tech company whose software is used by ICE and the Israeli military.
New York saw the biggest May Day rally since the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in 2012, with several unions mobilising members.
United Auto Workers Union President Shawn Fain set out plans to “set our next contract expiration for May Day 2028” in an effort to circumvent anti-strike laws and hold a real general strike.
But resistance to Trump needs to step up well before then.
The Democrats are seeking to channel opposition into harvesting votes for the mid-term elections in November. But they opened the door to Trump’s presidency by attacking living standards, supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and cutting migration.
What’s needed is a working class movement independent of the Democrats. May Day shows that such a movement is building.
By Luke Ottavi
