San Francisco/SFO Airport
Tempest members joined hundreds of workers and community members in support of SEIU-USWW SFO airport workers as they campaigned around raising minimum wages to $30/hr. The action blocked vehicle access to the International Terminal starting at 11 AM. As first vice president, Sanjay Garla reported, LAX workers recently won $30/hr minimum wage, and SFO workers deserve the same. Garla also emphasized that in order for SFO to be safe for workers and passengers, we must demand “ICE out of SFO.”
SEIU United worker Carlos Sabata, in their first ever public speech, emphasized the international character of airport workers in the context of the international history of May Day, rousing the crowd with chants of “we are not invisible” and “we are not replaceable.” The crowd marched inside the terminal before twenty-five people were arrested, blocking the road in a planned civil disobedience action, including local politicians and labor leaders.
A few thousand joined two afternoon demonstrations and marches along Market Street at Civic Center and Embarcadero. The demonstrations were not huge, but they were spirited and full of unions, community groups, and left organizations. Some students walked out at a few high schools, and some educators joined them. Downtown High School educators shut down the school with a wildcat strike.
Oakland/OAK Airport
Oakland witnessed an unprecedented commemoration of May Day today. The day started with a rally at the ILWU Local 6 union hall near the Oakland International Airport at 9 AM. Over 500 people packed the union hall and pledged to join the “joyous rebellion” at the airport. This event was cosponsored by several organizations, including ACCE, Bay Resistance, Indivisible East Bay, AROC, Palestinian Youth Movement, USPCN, East Bay DSA, etc. The coalition partners planned for this action months in advance. Along with the May Day demands of “Tax the rich,” “End US wars,” and “Abolish ICE,” the coalition agreed to uphold the demands of the Oakland Arms Embargo campaign to hold the Port of Oakland, which administers both the seaport and airport, accountable for sending weapons to Israel.
At the electrifying gathering at the ILWU Local 6, the protesters formed two groups. One group joined the car caravan and the other was bused to the airport. Around 300 participants, who were bused to the airport, formed a picket line at the entrance to the departure hall. Meanwhile, a caravan of about 30 cars started approaching the airport. The deliberately sluggish caravan blocked the incoming traffic to the airport and started honking in tandem as it reached the departure hall. The controlled frenzy garnered the attention of the passengers and law enforcement alike. A few on-foot protesters took to the street, risking arrest, leading the car-caravan, and holding banners that read “No work. No school. No shopping” and “ICE out of our streets. Israel out of OAK fleets.” The carefully orchestrated picket-caravan double whammy brought the departure terminal of the Oakland airport to a standstill for about 20 minutes. The protesters vowed to return as the picket line dispersed after the caravan passed.
The crowd reconvened at 3 PM in Fruitvale, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood of the city of Oakland, to hold another rally and march. Oakland Sin Fronteras (Oakland Without Borders) coalition organized this rally, followed by a resource fair. Several organizations, including Bay Area Cuba Solidarity Network, Black Organizing Project, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, Oakland Tenants Union, OEA Rapid Response Team, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, etc., offered services and material support to the community at the resource fair. At a gathering of about a thousand people, the speakers voiced their strong disapproval of deportations, travel bans, and racial profiling of immigrants and refugees.
The day ended with several cultural events taking place in the different parts of the East Bay. La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley held a “Party for the Workers” concert featuring Bambu, Boots Riley, etc. In downtown Oakland at Fluid510, Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff gave a talk on their newest publication, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed.
Berkeley/UC Berkeley
The UC Berkeley Labor Coalition held a May Day rally in front of UC Berkeley’s California Hall (where the office of the UC Berkeley Chancellor, Rich Lyons, is located) in support of AFSCME’s open-ended strike that was scheduled to begin on May 14th. That strike has since been called off as a tentative agreement has been reached. In addition, the rally also called for support for the contract fight of UC-AFT 1474 (which represents lecturers, librarians, and archivists across the UCs). There were speakers from several unions, including UAW 4811 (the grad workers’ union), UC-AFT 1474, and UPTE-CWA 9119 (University Professional and Technical Employees), as well as campus organizations such as Blackstone Divestment and the ICE off-campus campaign. A big theme of the rally was connecting the funding of Zionism and genocide to labor struggles and the fight against ICE in the US. Soon after the rally began, chanting could be heard coming from another side of the campus, which turned out to be a large group of students from Berkeley High School who led a walkout and came to campus to join the rally. Two of the high school students (who were also members of the Sunrise Movement) spoke in support of their teachers and immigrant workers. The participation of the high school students, including their two speakers, was especially impressive and moving.
San Jose, CA
May Day 2026 in San Jose started with a Rally at the corner of Story and King, followed by a march to San Jose City Hall. Union members seemed to have the largest groups, and were supported by the South Bay Labor Council and Working Partnerships USA. There was a very strong presence of SEIU folks from various locals, along with Alphabet Workers and Flight Attendant union members. Students from 10 San Jose high schools walked out to join the event. Socialist organizations included FRSO, DSA, and PSL. The billionaire candidate for governor of California, Tom Steyer, made an appearance at the Rally.
The Rally was the largest grouping of folks at Story and King in the last ten years, and folks were still marching the three miles to City Hall three hours after they got started on the three-mile route. Some organizations tabled at City Hall, and the crowd was a pretty good size for San Jose.
San Diego, CA
In a new departure influenced by growing interest in general strikes as a means to defend threatened democracy, County employees in San Diego’s SEIU Local 221 joined International Workers’ Day festivities. Militant workers phone-banked and organized co-workers for weeks, encouraging them to take either unpaid leave or vacation time. This falls short of full strike action as it does not involve direct defiance of the boss. But importantly, it did demonstrate–to ourselves, our co-workers, and our class rallying together for May 1–a willingness to collectively make an economic sacrifice for a cause. And this day of skipping work and missing pay was done primarily under political slogans–ICE Out of San Diego, No War in Iran, Tax the Rich, and Protect Our Votes.
There was also one key economic demand–End Tier D. Tier D is the outrageous pension plan in place for all County employees hired since 2017, requiring them to postpone retirements late into old age. Members knew that the May 1 action would not accomplish this goal by itself. But by raising our own particular issue, alongside those important to the cause of social justice and our class as a whole, we took an opportunity to publicize it in a way that begins to knit it into a larger campaigning alliance.
Workers spent the whole day together, meeting at 9 AM at the Union hall, where two buses drove them first to the mid-day rally at Chicano Park, then to the action in support of janitors at the San Diego International Airport, and finally to the late afternoon action organized by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Central Labor Council.
About 50 county workers took part in the daylong action. 160 declared that they would not work. It is unknown whether fewer or more actually took the day off. This is a small fraction of the 11,000 represented County workers, but an unprecedented step while working under an unexpired contract.
Tony Ledezma, a worker at Agriculture, Weights, and Measures and a former Federal employee, said, “When Trump went to power, he illegally fired us. Because of the Union, I got my (Federal) job back.” But “Tier D is not working for people; it should be altered.”
“2026 has just been chaos and nonsense…I think there’s a bunch of people in high office that have an agenda that is taking power away from the people and benefitting corporations and the ultra-wealthy,” said Dan of Behavioral Health Services. “We’re spending billions on war, cutting health care, cutting education, and separating families.”
“Laborers can step into a more powerful political role today,” said 221 member Krista. “I think we’re here today as a result of decades of organization by people of wealth. We will only be able to confront that together…it’s a little bit of a mind shift to be in solidarity with people who are different.”
“I’m saying no to war; no to ICE; no to voter suppression,” said Jesse Gonzalez, Mental Health Worker at County Psychiatric Hospital. “The worst part for me is when they blame immigrants…I just read horrific statements about pregnant women in detention facilities.”
In the words of Adult Protective Services Specialist Natasha, “it’s important to create community and interconnectedness.” County employee Brian Lafferty said, “Workers will bring down fascism.”
APS worker Rodney argued, “The May Day event is important to honor those who fought for the rights of others and continue to fight for basic human rights for future generations. I believe people would place more value on their freedom/democracy if they learn about their history”. And Brenda Nunez of the Union’s Black Caucus, AFRAM-Sankofa, said, “May Day is important to bring solidarity”.
Finally, Elena Long, President of 221’s newly launched Latino Caucus, spoke to some 500-1000 people at the central stage at Chicano Park. Speaking in Spanish, she said, “It is very important to support and protect our community. Our community has struggled much, has worked much, and has sacrificed much to be in this country. That’s why we cannot remain quiet when we see injustices. We cannot remain quiet when many families are living in fear.”
Thanks to Cecile Estelle for assistance with this article.
Burlington, Vermont
Around 1,000 people took part in a spirited May Day march. The action was comprised of the Left, but with a bigger concentration of union members. The highlight of the day was when protestors took over the Hannaford grocery store’s parking lot and demanded that the chain join the farmworkers program Milk with Dignity. Noticeable was the absence of broader liberal forces, who are already orienting toward the election instead of more direct political activity. In a sign of that, all the politicians were angling to get on the stage and speak, but organizers did not allow it.
Madison, Wisconsin
In Madison, Wisconsin, the teachers’ union successfully pressured the school district to close public schools on May Day. Schools were also closed in Milwaukee. In Madison, thousands of people rallied at the University of Wisconsin campus in support of immigrant rights. Protestors marched to the State Capitol, where they were met by large contingents that marched from two of the city’s high schools.
New York, NY
May Day in New York City drew about ten thousand people for a vibrant rally and march. Some unions brought out large and multiracial contingents, especially notable the Laborers International Union of North America (LUINA), which bused workers in from every borough. LUINA represents 40,000 workers employed in the construction trades. Tempest marched with the Professional Staff Congress at CUNY, representing public college and university faculty and staff. PSC-CUNY had a visible and lively contingent of a few hundred. Some unions that could have had big contingents had a poor showing, most notably the United Federation of Teachers, part of the American Federation of Teachers. The march overall was very multiracial with large contingents of immigrant workers and immigrant rights groups. The union mobilizations meant it was a much more racially diverse and working-class in composition compared to the No Kings protests and other recent demonstrations. Anti-Trump, anti-billionaire, and anti-ICE slogans were everywhere.
Ottawa, Ontario, CAN
Ottawa’s May Day event consisted of about 400 people from various single-issue campaigns and left groups on a march that stopped five or six times to highlight specific issues in the city. The event, organized by a local anarchist collective, only had flags from one union, a federal public service union.
Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see “About Tempest Collective.”
Featured Image credit: skuchamenz skuchamenz, Susan Ruggles, Fibonacci Blue; modified by Tempest.
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