April 29, 2025
May Day, the annual holiday recognizing the international working class, will be celebrated around the world on May 1. We encourage APWU members to join our labor allies across the country at one of the many May Day events happening to combat the attacks on the working class – our wages, our benefits, and our dignity.
A Brief History of May Day
In the 1880s, Chicagoans were fed up with the status quo, where industrial workers toiled long hours in squalid conditions. The International Working People’s Association formed in 1883 and dedicated its resources to establishing an eight-hour work day. Led by Albert Parsons and August Spies, demands for an eight-hour day swept the nation.
At the American Federation of Labor’s 1884 convention, delegates adopted a resolution urging all workers to strike two years later, on May 1, 1886 and on that day more than 340,000 workers took part in national actions in support for an eight-hour day.
Two days later, activists organized a union action at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, where scabs had replaced locked out workers on strike. Police arrived to intimidate the strikers, beating them with billy clubs. As protestors exited, police ran at them and fired into the retreating crowd, killing at least six and injuring many more. In the coming days, tensions escalated between police and workers.
The following day, on May 4, labor leaders organized a rally in Haymarket Square. While the event was meant to be a non-violent protest of police brutality, it became violent, ultimately leading to the deaths of several civilians at the hands of the police, fellow officers, and dozens more injured.
News of the tragedy sent shockwaves through the labor movement worldwide. In 1889, labor advocates declared May 1 International Workers Day – or May Day – to commemorate the struggle of the Haymarket Affair and to build international workers’ solidarity.
Highlighting the Significance
May Day, the annual holiday recognizing the international working class, is celebrated around the world on May 1. It commemorates the struggle for workers’ rights and honors the lives’ lost during the fight to ensure the 8-hour workday we are now accustomed to.
Today we are facing an administration that is putting our livelihoods at risk, seeking to strip the rights that workers before us shed blood to acquire. Across the country, we are seeing attacks brought on by the Trump administration:
- Attacks on Federal workers and the attempt to strip them of their collective bargaining rights
- Attacks on immigrant workers subject to unjust abduction, detention, and confinement
- Attacks on freedom of speech for allies who seek to defend human rights.
Now more than ever, it is important to stand up and fight back against the attacks brought on by the Trump administration. National labor organizations have formed a Labor For Democracy coalition, demanding an end to the Trump administration’s assaults on immigrant workers, freedom of speech, the right to organize and bargain, and federal government workers, their unions, and the services they provide.
Take Action on May Day 2025
On May Day 2025, we encourage APWU members to join our labor allies across the country at one of the many May Day events happening to combat the attacks on the working class – our wages, our benefits, and our dignity.
Spread the word that the U.S. Mail is Not For Sale! We urge members and locals to distribute literature, share our fight and spread our message to protect our public postal service! See resources below to download a printable copy of the leaflet for distribution.
To find an event in your area, visit maydaystrong.org
Spread the Word – U.S. Mail is Not For Sale!
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Celebrating May Day 2025 – International Workers Day0
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