Chicago teachers and students will be among those expected to let their voices be heard on what is known as May Day.
One of the Chicago Teachers Union pre-rally events before the big citywide event this afternoon drew hundreds of students to Rainbow PUSH headquarters from around the area.
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Waves of buses filled with CPS students arrived Friday morning where the Chicago Teachers Union said students are learning about voting, civil rights, community building, and advocacy on May Day.
Kids who attend will then return to school for the second half of the day.
Others will likely attend the major May Day rally and march, beginning at Union Park and ending at Daley Plaza downtown.
That rally begins at 1 p.m. The march starts at 2 p.m. and is expected to go along Washington, Racine, Jackson, Halsted and Washington to Daley Plaza.
Now, CPS is in session Friday, but teachers and students with permission can participate in May Day rallies.
Mayor Brandon Johnson who spoke at the rally and the teachers union have called for civic engagement activities for those not participating in May Day rallies, but CPS CEO Macquline King said it’s not a requirement for students.
The CTU president and Chicago mayor sharing these words with the students.
“You’re the ones who get to tell us… from the things you see, that you need and deserve, in your home spaces and in your neighborhood and your school spaces that means your school community. So as you’re taking all this in, but you get to bring back to us is what you deserve,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates.
“Today you’re making history or part of the next generation of voices of leaders who will continue on the legacy of protecting and building our democracy,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
This year’s “workers over billionaires” May Day boycott calls for people to skip school, work and shopping – for an economic blackout.
Demands include taxing the rich and putting an end to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
There are other May Day events throughout the city and suburbs. More than 300 Loyola University faculty members will hold a one-day strike. They have been in contract negotiations for more than a year.
Students, Workers and community members will rally outside Oak Park River and Forest High School, before marching to Scoville Park in Oak Park.
The CASA DuPage organization will lead a rally at its workers center in Wheaton.
A plaque dedication marked the 140th anniversary of the Haymarket affair.
The historic worker’s revolt of 1886 here in Chicago marked the beginning of the eight-hour workday.
Several labor organizations added plaques to the Haymarket memorial at the ceremony Friday morning, with Mayor Johnson, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and UAW President Shawn Fain.
