CHICAGO - In anticipation of International Workers' Day on Monday, May 1, a broad array of organizations are uniting to plan citywide actions to stop criminalization, defend our rights, and create truly safe and healthy communities.
May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, is celebrated around the world following the tragic events of Chicago's Haymarket Affair in May 1886. This year it will be a national day of action in the United States with large marches expected around the country in reaction to the policies of the Trump administration. In Illinois, this has been compounded by the anti-worker agenda of the Rauner administration.
In response a wide variety of immigrant and racial justice, labor, women's, environmental and community organizations from throughout the Chicago area have united to resist racism and rebuild community and are planning walk-outs and other workplace actions, marches and rallies that are expected to draw large crowds to downtown Chicago on Monday,May 1. The protest will also push city and state leaders to do more to protect Chicagoans from Trump's attacks and promote real safety and economic opportunity in the Chicago area.
Social justice and labor organizations along with environmental groups and community allies will announce coordinated activities for May Day, including job actions, marches and rallies.
Participating are:
Jorge Ramirez, Chicago Federation of Labor
Jesse Sharkey, Chicago Teachers Union
Gabriela Marquez-Benitez, Organized Communities Against Deportation
Hatem Abudayyeh, Arab American Action Network
Cosette Hampton, Black Youth Project 100
Jack Darin, Sierra Club Illinois
Jose Artemio Arreola, Casa Michoacan/Hometown Associations
Ana Romero, Raise the Floor Alliance
Liz Radford, Women's March on Chicago
Todd St. Hill, Resist. Reimagine. Rebuild Coalition
The announcement will be made Wednesday, April 5, 2017, at 10 a.m. at the Sierra Club Illinois, 70 E. Lake Street, Suite 1500, Chicago.