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May Day, May Day, May Day! [1]
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Date: 2025-04-26
The term “Mayday” comes from the French phrase “m’aidez” or “venez m’aider”—meaning “help me” or “come help me.” It is a loanword adopted into English to serve as an international distress call. The term was coined in the 1920s by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport near London, who needed a word easily understood by both English and French-speaking aviators and mariners. “Mayday” was officially adopted as the standard spoken distress signal at the International Radiotelegraph Convention in Washington, D.C., in 1927. The signal must be spoken three times in succession to ensure clarity and avoid confusion with similar-sounding words. Visually, the equivalent would be flying the American flag upside down—arecognized symbol of dire distress.
But May 1st carries far more than an emergency signal.
It is also May Day, a centuries-old celebration of fertility, renewal, and the changing seasons. In this version of May Day, people mark it with joyful traditions like dancing around a maypole and crowning a May Queen. These festivities still thrive in towns across England and Britain, where Morris dancing—a ritual folk dance dating back to the 15th century—is performed with bells, sticks, and lively footwork. In Scotland, Ireland, and other parts of Europe, May 1st is also associated with Beltane, a pagan festival that marks the beginning of summer with bonfires. These celebrations offer a sense of ritual, joy, and escape from the chaos of modern life. This year, May Day provides an escape from the absurdity of what is happening in America.
There is, however, a third May Day—one rooted in labor struggle. On October 7, 1884, at a convention in Chicago, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (FOTLU) declared that May 1,1886, would be a national strike day if Congress did not extend the eight-hour workday to all workers, as it had already done for federal employees in 1868. With 19 months’ notice, labor organizers had time to build a national movement. On May 1, 1886, hundreds of thousands of workers walked off the job in cities across the U.S. The epicenter was Chicago, where the strike continued for days.
On May 3, police killed two strikers at the McCormick Reaper Works. In response, a rally was held at Haymarket Square the next day. As the peaceful rally was winding down, someone threw a bomb. One police officer was killed instantly, and the ensuing gunfire left seven officers and at least four civilians dead, with many more injured. This tragedy, known as the Haymarket Affair, deeply shocked the labor movement but also galvanized international solidarity. In July 1889, labor leaders at a worker congress in Paris declared May 1 an annual day of protest in honor of the Haymarket martyrs. That is how International Workers’ Day—or May Day—was born. It is now observed as Labor Day in most countries around the world.
In contrast, the United States and Canada distanced themselves from the politically charged legacy of May 1st by moving Labor Day to September, a change made official in the U.S. in 1894. Most American workers didn’t gain a legal right to the eight-hour workday until the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed on June 25, 1938.
Now, this year, we face a fourth May Day. On May 1, 2025, a national day of protest against Trump is being organized by 50501—that is, 50 protests in 50 states on 1 day. This action will spill into the weekends before and after May 1st—a lot of good trouble. The theme is: “May Day 2025: We Are the Many. They Are the Few.”
This new May Day will recognize federal workers who have lost their jobs, the value of immigrant labor, the essential role of unions, and the millions of American workers struggling under the weight of low wages, long hours, and limited protections. In reclaiming MayDay, we embrace the spirit of solidarity, resistance, and renewal that has always lived on this date—whether shouted in desperation, danced in joy, or marched in defiance.
In all its forms, May Day is a reminder: help is needed, history matters, and the people have power.
Remember, protests only reach a political tipping point when they reach 3.5% of the adult population. We need 9.1 million people in the streets to achieve that. Let’s keep building.
Day 96: days left to January 20, 2029: 1,365 days
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