Join the Movement: May Day Protests Demand ‘Workers Over Billionaires’ Across the US

On Friday, cities across the nation are set to witness a wave of protests and demonstrations as part of May Day, with participants boycotting work, school, and shopping. The events, driven by the rallying cry “Workers Over Billionaires,” are expected to draw significant attention.

Approximately 500 organizations have joined forces to orchestrate over 750 events, including around 200 virtual gatherings. Major urban centers such as New York, Washington D.C., Minneapolis, Chicago, and Los Angeles will be among the key locations for these activities.

May Day Strong, the primary organizer behind these demonstrations, explains the initiative: “On May 1, 2026, workers, students, and families will rally, march, and take action nationwide, demanding a society that prioritizes workers over billionaires. Many participants will engage in acts of civil disobedience by refraining from attending school, going to work, or shopping.”

These May Day protests and boycotts echo a longstanding tradition of labor activism, stretching back to the 19th century. This historical legacy of advocating for workers’ rights has been a cornerstone of labor movements, often linked to Marxist and socialist ideologies. The day became especially significant in the Soviet Union, where it was declared a national holiday following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

May Day’s roots trace back to the 19th Century, when Marxists, socialists and labor unions called for a day of strikes in Paris and later became a national holiday in the Soviet Union after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

The first May Day protest occurred in 1886, with Chicago at the center of the demonstrations. At the time, several hundred thousand unions, socialists, anarchists and reformers took to the streets to advocate for the eight-hour workday. 

Several days later, the protests turned deadly. 

On May 3, 1886, violent agitators at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company clashed with police, who opened fire on the crowd, killing at least two, according to reports.

Illustration depicting the Anarchist (Haymarket) Riot on May 4th, 1886 in Chicago. Shows a bomb exploding among the police. (Colored wood engraving by T. de Thulstrup after H. Jeanneret.)

The following day at Haymarket Square in Chicago, an unknown agitator threw a bomb at police, killing one officer instantly and leading to a violent battle that killed several more law enforcement officers and protesters. 

The riot became known as the “Haymaker Affair,” and the events led to the executions and hangings of the Haymarket Martyrs, a trial which is still debated over injustice and controversy today. 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has already endorsed the events taking place this Friday, saying that “meaningful solidarity and community resistance” are cornerstones of the historic demonstration.

Mayor Brandon Johnson answers questions during a news conference at Chicago City Hall on Feb. 25, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service)

“Encouraging participation allows Chicagoans to honor our history while advocating for our future,” Johnson said. “We look forward to a day of meaningful solidarity and community resistance to the forces trying to tear us apart.”

“The history of May Day in America is rooted in Chicago,” Johnson added. “It was in our city that workers organized around the simple demand of an eight-hour workday and raised the consciousness of a gilded nation through the Haymarket Strike.” 

With the central theme surrounding the American worker against the billionaire class, economists are skeptical that a single-day boycott has any impact at all on large companies and the so-called elite.

Protestors arrive in front of the White House on June 22, 2025, to demonstrate support for the Islamic Republic of Iran amid U.S.-Iran tensions. (Asra Nomani/Fox News Digital)

“If you’re talking about [non-perishable activities], like going to the movies, you’ll go see the same movie on Saturday,” University of Maryland Economics Professor Emeritus and former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission Peter Morici told Fox News Digital. 

Morici noted that if consumers boycott purchases for a single day, they will purchase the same products and shop at the same venues regardless of a one-day strike.

“Somebody will go to store B instead of store A,” Morici explained. “All this is a bad storm and a way for the left wing getting everybody riled up.”

“It’s not a hit on the billionaires,” Morici added. “You’re angry about your circumstances. So what do you do? You burn the place down and make your circumstances worse. The local shops that are going without a day. The very people they want us to patronize are the people that could get hurt.”