https://usaherald.com/hundreds-of-thousands-march-in-may-day-workers-over-billionaires-boycott-schools-shut-across-five-states-as-nea-leads-largest-labor-mobilization-in-a-decade/
Hundreds Of Thousands March In May Day “Workers Over Billionaires” Boycott — Schools Shut Across Five States As NEA Leads Largest Labor Mobilization In A Decade America ı By Derek Johnson ( https://usaherald.com/author/derekjohnson/ ) 239 0 Comments *WASHINGTON, D.C.* — Hundreds of thousands of teachers, nurses, fast-food workers, students and union activists poured into the streets of more than 1,000 American cities on Friday, transforming the 2026 May Day commemoration into the largest single-day labor mobilization the country has seen in more than a decade. Marching under the banner of "Workers Over Billionaires," organizers say the demonstrations are aimed squarely at the Trump administration and what they describe as the unchecked influence of a small group of ultra-wealthy donors over federal policy. Nearly 500 organizations — led by the National Education Association, the Service Employees International Union, the AFL-CIO and the youth-led Sunrise Movement — coordinated more than 3,000 separate events. School districts in Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin canceled classes outright after staffing shortages reached emergency levels, including the entire Charlotte-Mecklenburg system, where administrators said it was no longer safe to operate buildings with so many absent teachers. ---------------------------------------- An Economic Blackout Aimed at Washington ---------------------------------------- This year's May Day push goes well beyond traditional rallies. Organizers are urging Americans to skip work, keep their children home from school and refuse to spend money for the entire day — a tactic borrowed from the international general strike playbook and rebranded as an "economic blackout." NEA President Becky Pringle, whose union counts more than 3 million members, told reporters in Raleigh that the message is plain. "When billionaires write the rules and working families pay the price, we have a moral obligation to stand up," Pringle said. "Today, three million educators, plus our brothers and sisters across the labor movement, are sending a single message: enough." The Sunrise Movement says more than 100,000 high school and college students walked out of classrooms by midday, with the largest concentrations on campuses in California, New York, Massachusetts and Michigan. In Chicago, members of the Chicago Teachers Union joined CPS students at a Union Park rally that organizers estimate drew 40,000 people before flooding into the Loop. --------------------------------------- >From Coast to Coast, the Crowds Swelled --------------------------------------- By midmorning, aerial footage showed marchers stretching for more than 20 blocks down Constitution Avenue in Washington, where speakers planned to lay out a list of demands that includes a $20 federal minimum wage, the restoration of expanded Medicaid eligibility rolled back earlier this year, an end to mass deportation raids and a freeze on what protesters call "billionaire bailouts" embedded in the latest tax package. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#41665): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/41665 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/119185549/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
