Demonstrators across the country supporting workers’ rights on Friday called for more labor-friendly policies and denounced the Trump administration for actions they see as favoring the rich.
Organizers behind the coordinated events, titled May Day Strong, asked participants to abstain from work, school and shopping, and to join protests nationwide, urging the country to prioritize “workers over billionaires.” They marched in Washington, blocked entrances to the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, and planned dozens of events in Chicago and other cities.
The activist groups behind Friday’s demonstrations overlapped considerably with those that organized the earlier ‘‘No Kings’’ protests that have taken place periodically since the start of the second Trump administration. Those demonstrations have drawn crowds across the country to denounce President Trump’s actions — including his aggressive mass deportation campaign and the U.S.-Israel war in Iran — as examples of authoritarian overreach.
The coalition behind the May Day Strong events also included a long list of labor groups and dozens of chapters of the left-wing Democratic Socialists of America.
The demonstrations on Friday continued to decry the war and the immigration crackdown. But organizers also said the protests would feature a call for raising taxes on the rich and for protecting democracy from corporate influence.
By early Friday afternoon, a crowd had descended on the north lawn of the National Mall in Washington, facing the White House. Protesters, carried signs denouncing Trump administration policies. One group held placards reading “No to Billionaire Wars.” Another contingent carried “Free D.C.” signs, a reference to Mr. Trump’s contentious, eight-month-long deployment of the National Guard to patrol and beautify the nation’s capital.
Dieter Lehmann Morales, a 34-year-old world history teacher, said he had taken the day off to attend the protest.
“We don’t want this prioritizing of billionaires over the working class that actually built this country,” he said. “But honestly, I just want to be an example for my students, to show them it’s important to stand up.”
Friday is International Workers’ Day, a date that many countries around the world have set aside to celebrate labor and that has traditionally served as a day of action for the organized labor movement.
The United States celebrates its own Labor Day on the first Monday of September. But May Day has retained significance in the country as a day of protest for labor unions and activist groups.
Eric Berger contributed reporting from New York.
