May Day in NYC

In New York City, a unique and historic May Day march and rally was called by a coalition of labor, antiwar, community, and immigrant rights activists.

The Million Worker March Movement and the Troops Out Now Coalition, organizers of the event, were initially told by the NYPD that the city would not issue a permit for any May Day march, to any location, on any route. The two coalitions, determined to march, organized a campaign, involving thousands of phone calls, emails, faxes, and letters to the Mayor and the NYPD, as well as the threat of a law suit, that forced the city to back down.

More than a thousand turned out for the rally, with the march swelling to 1,500 as passers by stopped and joined in.

The lineup of speakers at the rally points to the political significance of this event, a first effort to revive May Day in the U.S., as progressive labor leaders joined with immigrant rights activists, antiwar activists, and international solidarity organizers to proclaim solidarity with the struggles of working and oppressed people across the globe.

The program began with a recorded message from political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Speakers included:

  • Clarence Thomas, ILWU, Million Worker March co-convener
  • Brenda Stokely, President of DC 1707 AFSCME, Million Worker March co-convener
  • Gerardo Cajamarca, SINALTRAINAL – exiled Colombian unionist
  • Samia Halaby, Defend Palestine
  • Chris Silvera, Chair of the Teamsters National Black Caucus
  • Charles Barron and Margarita Lopez, members of the New York City Council
  • Narciso Castillo, Accion 21 Immigrant Rights NJ
  • Teresa Gutierrez, NY Committee to Free the Cuban Five
  • Larry Holmes, Troops Out Now Coalition
  • Carl Webb, member of the National Guard who refused to deploy to Iraq
  • Nana Soul, Blackwaxx Recordings, Artists & Activists United for Peace
  • Bernier Achilles, Haiti Support Network
  • Jesse Heiwa, Queers for Peace and Justice
  • LeiLani Dowell, FIST (Fight Imperialism- Stand Together)
  • Sara Flounders, International Action Center
  • Dustin Langley, No Draft, No Way
  • Usavior, Blackwaxx Recordings
  • Erik Anders-Nilsson, Jersey City Peace Movement
  • representatives from Casa Freehold, an immigrants rights organization in Freehold, NJ
  • representatives of Damayan Migrant Workers Association, a Filipino workers' association and other labor and community organizers
  • Cultural performances by Spiritchild, Foundation, Catherine Moon, & Billionaires for Bush

The highlight of the day was a spirited march down busy 14th St., which stopped at several non-union retail outlets, including Dwayne Reade and Whole Foods. The march also stopped in front of Beth Israel, a major medical complex that is facing budget cuts, layoffs, and potential closing. Marchers chanted ,"Healthcare, Not Warfare!"

The march ended with a short closing rally in Union Square.

Police demonstrated their frustration at being forced to grant a permit by storming the stage at the very minute the sound permit expired at 5:00 pm.

The Revive May Day March was called for last October at the Million Worker March in Washington DC more than 6 months ago. When organizers of Troops Out Now Coalition and United For Peace and Justice met just prior to May Day, the Troops Out Now Coalition proposed that messages of unity in opposition to U.S. war be exchanged. Leslie Cagan, on behalf of UFPJ, sent a message defending the right to march to the Bloomberg Administration, when NYC Police Department originally denied Troops Out Now and Million Worker March the right to hold a march on May Day.

The Troops Out Now Coalition offered a unity statement in support of the thousands who marched from the UN to Central Park that read, in part, "Even though our movement will be gathering in different parts of NYC, let no one be mistaken, our messages overlap, and our arms are locked in solidarity with each other."