People gathered in Mayday in New York on May 1, 2017 to protest President Trump's anti-immigration agenda during his first White House term. This year, Mayday protests in the United States are expected to attract more crowds in more places. Bebeto Matthews/ap Closed subtitles
It is expected to take to the streets nationwide at a rally in May against the Trump administration on Thursday.
Every year on May 1, workers around the world celebrate, workers around the world celebrate. This year, activists in the United States aim to base their momentum on recent widespread grassroots protests against policies implemented by the Trump administration.
Anti-Trump protesters have expressed a series of concerns about the administration's recent actions, including eliminating thousands of federal jobs, immigration attacks and billionaire Elon Musk's involvement in narrowing the U.S. government.
In Mayday, protesters are working to condemn what they say is an attack on the working class and immigrants. Organizers in an effort, called "May Day," said the government and its billionaire allies pose a threat to labor rights, public services and the security of immigration, regardless of their legal status. Organizers expressed opposition to the forms of violent protests.
"It's a war against workers," organizers said on Mayday's intense event page.
"They are allocating funds to our schools, privatizing public services, attacking unions and targeting immigrant families with fear and violence," they added. "We are taking power back from corporate elites, and Trump, Musk or their billionaire supporters won't scare us. They have ruled for too long."
The White House did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
Because what historians say is a lasting resistance to working class solidarity, the United States has not formally observed labor holidays. Despite this boycott, the working class in the United States found a way to commemorate Mayday since the 19th century.
Tradition begins with labor strikes.
Before the eight-hour working days became the standard, the organization now known as the American Federation of Labor conducted a national strike on May 1, 1886, requiring eight-hour working days, as many workers conducted twice the shifts over such a long period.
When police clashed with civilians, the Chicago strike was called the Hay Market Incident and the bomb exploded. Although the intended target of the bomb is unknown, four men linked to the protests were hanged for conspiracy to murder and were celebrated as Haymarket Marths. The Pullman Railroad strike also played an important role in the May 1894 Pullman Palace Automobile Company's work on the establishment of Mayday by American workers, prompting President Grover Cleveland to send federal troops to Chicago for strike.
This laid the foundation for the long history of the 55th activities.
Inspired by the Chicago workers, the international socialist movement attracted the attention of radicals, who spread Marxist literature. In order to separate the labor movement in Mayday, the U.S. president tried to redefine its meaning. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was held on May 1 as Law Day to see how the rule of law protects civil liberties, while Labor Day moved to September.
During his first term, Trump announced the announcement of "Loyalty Day" on May 1, a time to celebrate the country's loyalty to personal freedom. In the days before Trump's presidency, immigrants and workers boycotted similar protests and boycotts against Republican border wall plans and mass deportations.
However, the 2006 protests in the United States were brought by a bill to increase penalties for illegal immigration, which may be a better comparison. Those protests in March led to about 2 million protesters gathering in 140 cities and 39 states.
Joseph McCartin, a professor of labor history at Georgetown University, said it was different from the May protests planned on Thursday.
More than 1,000 events are planned on May 1 in more than 1,000 cities, according to organizers, and McCartine said the nationwide protests will be the most extensive May in the world.
"These will be protests, and these protests will bring a wider range of people and a wider place, and I think it will be historic, at least for that reason," he said.