Days after thousands of Michiganders took to the streets for the third so-called No Kings protest denouncing the work of President Donald Trump, national and local activists set their sights on a new, major day of collective action: May Day.
May 1, also known as International Workers’ Day, has already been tied to celebrations and remembrances in the past, but leaders with the national No Kings effort threw their weight behind the cause on a web-based community call, including the AFL-CIO president, on Tuesday, March 31. Those behind No Kings and the effort known as May Day Strong are calling for a national shutdown, in essence, while unions and activists plan to rally in metro Detroit and other locales.
A May Day rally will be held at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 1, at the park in front of Michigan Central in Detroit’s Corktown, confirmed Metro Detroit AFL-CIO executive board member Justin Steenbergh. Other May Day leaders and those tied to No Kings have also called for the public to abstain from work, school and shopping that day.
Steenbergh’s group of organizers isn’t calling for such abstention in Detroit, but also isn’t discouraging people either, he said.
His group also isn’t affiliated with No Kings but is in touch and getting support from No Kings groups, he said. For example, protest organizations, including the Indivisible group We The People Dissent, will support the Detroit rally and take part in a march afterward.
The rally is meant to promote working-class interests, said Steenbergh, who hails from IBEW Local 58 Detroit.
“Working-class people are struggling now,” he said.
He highlighted high grocery prices, gas prices and concerns with artificial intelligence taking jobs.
A May Day effort in the city was led by other independent groups last year, Steenbergh said. But with so many attacks underway in society and on labor, Steenbergh said “the time has come” for the labor movement to use its resources “to protect workers and communities.”
What is May Day?
To some, May Day is a spring holiday in the pagan tradition, and to others, it has been marked by militaristic showcases by the Soviet Union. However, it stems from the U.S. labor movement and took root across the world, said Michigan State University labor relations professors who previously spoke to the Free Press.
The day honors workers and memorializes deaths tied to the fight for an 8-hour workday in 1886, the Free Press previously reported. Several people striking in Chicago died in a clash with police, and the next day, a rally was held at Haymarket Square in the city in honor of those killed. A bomb went off, violence ensued, and police and civilians were killed.
There was little evidence that those arrested after were actually connected to the bombing, one professor told the Free Press. Still, four people were executed, and another died by suicide. They’ve been called the Haymarket Martyrs.
Trump and May Day
Last year, hundreds of people gathered at the park in front of Michigan Central to mark the day and criticize Trump, who won the state in the last presidential election.
Steenbergh said it partially depends on who comes out for the May 1 gathering this year in Detroit, but he does believe the gathering will include anti-Trump sentiments.
Trump has been both sued and supported by various labor unions since his second term began.
Trump has not been a friend to labor, said Steenbergh.
In a statement to the Free Press, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump’s bold leadership has led to long-overdue reforms and exclusively benefited American-born workers. She pointed to changes including trade deals and tariffs.
“President Trump has done more than any president in modern history to put American workers first,” Rogers said.
The next big protest?
Steenbergh said the May Day gathering was being referred to as a rally and not a protest.
We The People Dissent organizer Audrey Bourriaud said it would be fair to call the May Day effort the next major day of action, but also confirmed that her group and others are holding other demonstrations in the area before then.
Anti-war actions and a call to stop the deportation of students were expected over the weekend of April 3. Then, on April 11, protests are expected against data centers and the potential for an immigration enforcement detention center to be built in Romulus.
Separately, an online map of May Day events indicated one would take place in Oak Park as well, though an organizer for the event could not immediately be identified or reached for comment.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: We asked the White House about May Day in Detroit
Reporting by Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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