Hundreds of Thousands Join 'May Day Strong' Boycott Across U.S. to Protest Trump Policies and Billionaire Influence

Key facts

• Over 3,500 'May Day Strong' events were organized nationwide, with organizers calling for 'no school, no work, no shopping'.
• In Manhattan, Sunrise Movement protesters chained themselves to the New York Stock Exchange; about 100 joined before arrests.
• Six Sunrise protesters were arrested in Minneapolis for blocking a bridge; Portland activists occupied a Hilton lobby where DHS officials were reportedly staying.
• San Francisco city officials were arrested at SFO in support of airport workers' union picketing over wages and ICE presence.
• The May Day Strong coalition includes labor unions, immigrant rights groups, the Democratic Socialists of America, and No Kings protest organizers.
• In Washington D.C., Free DC protesters shut down intersections with banners reading 'Workers over billionaires' and 'Healthcare not warfare'.
• Nearly 20 school districts in North Carolina canceled classes due to teacher absences for May Day events.
• The economic blackout follows a similar effort in Minnesota in January, when tens of thousands protested federal immigration raids.

A Nationwide Walkout and Economic Blackout

Hundreds of thousands of Americans walked out of work and school on Friday, May 1, 2026, heeding a call for an economic blackout under the banner 'May Day Strong' or 'Workers Over Billionaires.' Organizers coordinated more than 3,500 events across the country, urging participants to refrain from work, school, and shopping as a show of collective power. In Manhattan, protesters from the youth-led Sunrise Movement chained themselves to the front of the New York Stock Exchange, while others blocked exits. About 100 demonstrators joined them before police arrested and removed them roughly an hour later. A smaller crowd remained, playing music and chanting 'Tax the rich!' Similar Sunrise-led actions in Portland and Minneapolis also ended in arrests: in Portland, activists occupied a Hilton hotel lobby where Department of Homeland Security officials were allegedly staying; in Minneapolis, six protesters were arrested for blocking a bridge. San Francisco city officials were arrested during a protest at San Francisco International Airport, where they supported airport workers' union picketing over wages and the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at airports.

Demands: Tax the Rich, Abolish ICE, End War

The May Day Strong coalition, which includes labor unions, immigrant rights groups, the Democratic Socialists of America, and organizers behind the earlier No Kings protests, united around a set of core demands: shifting the nation's tax burden from the working class to the wealthy, eliminating ICE, ending war, and limiting corporate influence in elections. In Washington D.C., protesters near the National Mall held hands at the front of lines, carrying signs reading 'NO ICE' and 'Stop the deportations.' They alternated chants of 'The people united will never be defeated' and 'Get up, get down. D.C. is a union town.' The grassroots group Empower DC helped organize some events; community organizer Anthony David said the aim was to 'increase awareness and make sure our voices are heard, especially as D.C. natives and long-standing communities.' He added that residents are 'being actively displaced' by investment that ignores longtime communities. In St. Louis, Shayne Clegg, 23, of the Missouri Workers Center, told NPR: 'Workers in this country are fed up. We're tired. We're facing a lot of issues from this current authoritarian regime that we are under. Billionaires are getting all of the control. Workers are suffering. We're having to pay more. We're not able to afford things to feed our families.'

Labor Unions and Teachers Lead the Charge

The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest labor union with 3 million members, was a key organizer. NEA President Becky Pringle said the message this year is that the country should be 'focusing on workers over billionaires.' She noted that 'bus drivers in New York and teachers in Idaho and nurses in Louisiana' are feeling the impact of a system that prioritizes billionaires over everyone else, while cutting services like public education. Teachers and students led walkouts nationwide. In Portland, several hundred attended a teachers' union rally. High-schoolers in Kansas City walked out to join the Missouri Workers Center and the Sunrise Movement Kansas City at a protest. Thousands of teachers and protesters marched through downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, in what local outlet the News & may be 'one of the biggest labor actions in the state's history.' School districts in Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin closed for May Day due to scheduled walkouts and a high number of teachers taking personal days. In North Carolina alone, nearly 20 school districts canceled classes because so many teachers requested time off to participate.ice President Bryan Proffitt.

Heartland Workers and the White House Response

Terrence Wise, 46, of Kansas City, a leader with the Missouri Workers Center, shared his family's story: in more than 30 years of fast-food jobs, he, his fiancée, and their three daughters have known homelessness and hunger. 'We slept in our purple minivan in the parking lot of my job,' he said. 'I will never forget watching my three little girls try to fall asleep in the back in the middle of winter.' He works three gig jobs; his fiancée is a home health care worker. On May 1, they did not go to work or school and spent no money. Wise said: 'If you want to see real change, you've got to be a part of the solution. Because if you're not out organizing and you're not out in the streets and you're not talking to your neighbors, you're part of the problem.' White House spokesman Kush Desai countered that the Trump administration 'has never wavered from standing up for American workers,' citing renegotiated trade deals, trillions in manufacturing investments, tax cuts on overtime, and border security. 'President Trump will always have the backs of American workers,' Desai said.

Historical Roots and a Growing Movement

May Day has been an annual day of protest for the labor movement since 1886, when it began in Chicago as a demand for an eight-hour workday. It is celebrated worldwide as International Workers' Day. In the United States, the shorter standardized workday was first proposed in the early 1800s, but it was not until 1938 that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, setting a 44-hour workweek, which became 40 hours in 1940. Friday's economic disruption builds on a similar coordinated effort in Minnesota in January, when tens of thousands of Twin Cities residents took off from school and work to flood the streets in protest of federal immigration agents storming the city. Hunter Dunn, a national spokesperson for the protest group 50501, said there were about 1,300 similar events on the first May Day of President Trump's second term. Leah Greenberg of Indivisible, one of the main organizations behind No Kings, described the May Day economic blackout as a 'structure test' for the movement. 'We are asking people to take a step into further exerting their power in all aspects of their lives – as workers, as students, as members of local organizing hubs,' she said. 'It's important as it builds muscles towards greater non-cooperation.'

A Broad Coalition and a Clear Message

People's Action Executive Director Sulma Arias said: 'People have figured out who's rigging the game and are taking action. What we expect is people to come out and deliver a clear message... They understand that they're seeing broken promises by an administration that promised to make things more affordable. And yet none of that has happened for everyday people who are still struggling.' Photos and footage of crowds filling streets in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Madison, Wisconsin, and Raleigh, North Carolina, spread on social media, as did protests in smaller towns from the Village of Oak Creek, Arizona, to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Frederick, Maryland. The demonstrations included union workers, mariachi bands, students, teachers, and politicians. In Chicago, healthcare workers with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) marched on an Amazon warehouse, carrying a giant sign of owner Jeff Bezos's head. In Memphis, Tennessee, protesters blocked the entrance to Elon Musk's xAI datacenter by lying in the streets. Earlier in the day, a group of Amazon workers, Teamsters, and local politicians marched from the New York Public Library's main branch to Amazon's nearby corporate offices, demanding the corporation cut its contracts with ICE and the DHS.

The Stakes for the Movement and the Nation

The May Day Strong protests represent a significant escalation in the ongoing resistance to the Trump administration's policies, drawing on the momentum of the No Kings mobilizations that organizers say have drawn millions nationwide. The economic blackout, with its call for non-cooperation, signals a shift toward more disruptive tactics aimed at leveraging the power of workers and consumers. Organizers framed the day as a test of the movement's ability to sustain pressure. With prices for rent, food, and gas rising while wages stagnate, the grievances are deeply felt. The participation of major labor unions, teachers, and grassroots groups suggests a broad-based coalition that could sustain further actions. As the day concluded, the protests had spread from coast to coast, with no central leadership but a shared message: workers over billionaires. Whether this energy translates into lasting political change remains an open question, but the scale of Friday's events — and the willingness of participants to risk arrest and lost wages — underscores the depth of frustration.

The bottom line

• Over 3,500 'May Day Strong' events took place across the U.S., with hundreds of thousands participating in an economic blackout.
• The coalition demands taxing the wealthy, abolishing ICE, ending war, and limiting corporate influence.
• Key organizers include the National Education Association, Sunrise Movement, and the Missouri Workers Center.
• Arrests occurred in New York, Portland, Minneapolis, and San Francisco, with protesters targeting stock exchanges, hotels, and airports.
• Nearly 20 school districts in North Carolina closed due to teacher absences for the protests.
• The White House defended its record on workers, citing trade deals and tax cuts, while protesters argued that promises of affordability have not been kept.