May Day 2026 is not just a celebration but a national, labor-led pro‑democracy uprising — a coordinated set of demonstrations and work stoppages aimed at defending workers’ rights, resisting fascistic MAGA policies, and building a broad coalition to protect social programs and democratic institutions in the U.S.

May Day, which falls on May 1, 2026, is approaching. People across the United States are preparing for protests. The Trump/MAGA actions against working people are not going to stop workers from celebrating or prevent street heat from happening. People are in motion.

While May Day has grown into an international workers’ holiday and day of action, it was born from the U.S.-based struggle for the eight-hour workday — an effort to limit the boss’s control over the worker’s day and a democratic struggle.

The current period under Trump and MAGA has ignited a similar labor-led pro-democracy fightback. “On May 1, 2026,” May Day Strong, a leader of this year’s protests, says, “workers, students, and families rally, march, and take action across the country to demand a nation that puts workers over billionaires, with many refusing business as usual through No School. No Work. No Shopping.”

In response to the destructive chaos of the Trump administration, the months leading up to May Day have been filled with pro-democracy protests. As comrade Joe Sims said about “No Kings 3,” March 28, 2026: “it was by far the largest, broadest, and most important expression of the anti-MAGA upsurge to date. Organizers estimate that some 8 million people turned out at over 3,000 protests across all 50 states.”

Starting a baseless war with Iran, treating the Gaza genocide like a real estate opportunity, bankrupting the nation with billionaire tax cuts and military spending, working to destroy social programs like SNAP, Medicare, and Social Security, gutting DEI and institutional protections for constitutional and democratic rights, enabling ICE to detain brown and Black people without due process regardless of citizenship or documentation, attacking women’s health and abortion access, undermining LGBTQ+ legitimacy and dignity, and exercising arbitrary and vicious power are some hallmarks of this Trump-afflicted year. The people have been saying “No” in large numbers during protests, and even more are expected to protest on May Day.

All-out struggle against the anti-democratic, anti-people, anti-labor MAGA right and Trump characterize the current period. That struggle is the background against which May Day is unfolding, making it an important moment to send a mass “No” to the fascistic administration and its unconstitutional war on the people, which began immediately upon Trump entering office in 2025.

This May Day is important, but it is also one protest in a season of actions heading toward the 2026 midterm elections. Masses of U.S. residents are rejecting Trump and his ICE-enforced policies. May Day appears poised to be the next major national action. Organizers argue — and rightly so — that, in addition to marching, other tactics are necessary to protect U.S. democracy and to counter the Trump dictatorial onslaught. Tactics can include demonstrative, nonviolent shows of force. Indeed, all the tools in the peaceful toolbox must be employed in the fight against the MAGA right.

And every tool is needed. Trump is described as the biggest union-buster in U.S. history, with more than 1 million federal workers’ collective bargaining rights at risk. While people struggle for work and to eat, Trump repeatedly — and without basis in fact — claims the U.S. has the greatest economy in history.

As rents and gas prices rise, Trump dismisses the brutal reality experienced by the majority of people in this country: a reality of struggle to meet basic needs and of a lack of affordability. With tax cuts for billionaires and regulatory changes, including weakened environmental protections, Trump is stuffing the mattresses of the super-rich while denying school lunches to children.

Organized labor is taking a leading role in this year’s May Day. Dozens of AFL-CIO affiliates and state federations have endorsed the call to protest.

The North Carolina AFL-CIO, the Metro-Detroit AFL-CIO, the Texas AFL-CIO, and the Milwaukee Area Labor Council are among the labor bodies that have signed on, alongside major national unions including AFT, NEA, AAUP, Starbucks Workers United, UE, UNITE HERE, NNU, CWA, and several UAW locals.

The militant National Nurses United, representing 200,000 members, is also backing the actions. UFCW Local 3000, which represents 50,000 workers in Washington state, is tabling at workplaces and community events to build support for May Day. UNITE HERE Local 11, representing 32,000 workers in Southern California and Arizona, has instructed members not to work at locations where ICE is present.

The May Day Strong coalition, led by the Chicago Teachers Union and its allies, is urging locals to organize real work stoppages, not just send members to rallies. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler has declared that the state of working people in this country is “under attack,” and the federation’s upcoming “Workers Revive Democracy” national convention in Atlanta on May 14–16 will seek to carry forward the momentum that May Day begins.

Join a May Day Strong action if one exists in your area. If your central labor council or union is involved, link up with them. If not, organize an event with your co-workers, neighbors, and community. Bring the civil rights and youth movements with you. If you can, take the pledge: No Work. No School. No Shopping.

And when you are in the streets, talk to each other. Make connections. Build unity. Organize! This May Day isn’t just about protesting Trump and MAGA; people are building the working-class-led, pro-democracy coalition that can lead the people of the U.S. out of this crisis toward a socialist future where people and the planet come before profits.

Register and attend the People’s World May Day Town Hall on Thursday, April 16 at 8:00 PM EST to discuss, strategize, and plan for International Workers’ Day. Download the special People’s World for May Day — print it out, circulate it, and use it as an organizing tool.

And on May 1 — join us in the streets.

Images: May Day Strong. Public domain. Marching in New York by Cameron Orr/Peoples World. CC BY-NC 4.0. May Day by Third Act. Public domain. Site of the Haymarket Riot by Stephen Hogan. CC BY 2.0.