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May Day Boycott Demands No Work, School, Shopping

4/29/2026

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Summary

Story summary

The May Day Strong coalition is urging a “no work, no school, no shopping” boycott on May 1, 2026, with labor unions and community groups staging coordinated protests, rallies and walkouts.
Rallies are planned in New York and Washington DC, where schools in Asheville, NC and Madison, WI close as teachers join the boycott.
The protests target ICE enforcement, the war in Iran and higher taxes on the wealthy, per the coalition’s policy roadmap.

History

Historical Context

On May 1 1886 the Federation of Organized Trades set an eight-hour workday goal, prompting a strike that drew up to 80 000 participants in Chicago. The May 4 Haymarket rally turned deadly when a bomb killed seven police officers and at least four workers; four anarchists were executed in 1887. That tragedy birthed International Workers’ Day, which the AFL-CIO May Day Strong coalition cites in immigration and tax-reform protests.

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Story summary

The May Day Strong coalition is urging a “no work, no school, no shopping” boycott on May 1, 2026, with labor unions and community groups staging coordinated protests, rallies and walkouts.
Rallies are planned in New York and Washington DC, where schools in Asheville, NC and Madison, WI close as teachers join the boycott.
The protests target ICE enforcement, the war in Iran and higher taxes on the wealthy, per the coalition’s policy roadmap.

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