US activists plan May Day economic blackout: ‘No school, no work, no shopping’

Protesters against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) march through the streets of downtown Minneapolis on 25 January. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenProtesters against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) march through the streets of downtown Minneapolis on 25 January. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty ImagesUS newsUS activists plan May Day economic blackout: ‘No school, no work, no shopping’Actions expected to exceed 3,000 as unions and groups expand protests inspired by Minnesota ICE crackdownMichael SainatoTue 28 Apr 2026 07.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 28 Apr 2026 07.02 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleLabor unions, democratic organizations and community groups are organizing an economic blackout this year to commemorate May Day, International Workers Day, inspired by the economic blackout in Minnesota during the massive ICE operation in the state.May Day Strong events are being planned across the US, with organizers calling for “no school, no work, no shopping”, in protest of government policies they say put billionaires’ needs above those of workers.What is May Day Strong, the ‘no work, no school, no shopping’ protests against Trump?Read moreNeidi Dominguez, founding executive director of Organized Power in Numbers and an organizer, said that the number of May Day events this year had more than doubled compared with last year.“Last year, there were about 1,300 May Day actions across the country. This year, we think there’s going to be more than 3,000,” said Dominguez. “Minneapolis really gave us the biggest push in real time to do it. We have a long way to go to take massive disruption actions like in other countries, where people will go on general strikes and they can shut down their country, but I think we’re getting more and more close to people having consciousness about their own power as workers.”Dominguez said the protests were a reaction to actions and threats from the Trump administration, including the proposal to send ICE agents to polling places during the midterms, and unilateral military actions on Venezuela and Iran.She said the actions this year were a step towards building a bigger movement.“We’re really trying to actually start organizing people to see that the power that we collectively have to do economic disruption is really the power that we need in this moment to not just defend ourselves, but defend democracy,” she added.Dominguez noted that several cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, are preparing for city-wide economic blackouts.In Chicago, several local labor unions and community groups, including the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana, Indivisible Chicago and the Chicago Federation of Labor, jointly announced an economic blackout for Chicago for 1 May.“May Day has to become bigger in this moment,” said Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and Illinois Federation of Teachers. The unions have backed the economic blackout planned for May Day. “This is about building a more popular united front.”“As educators, we feel a very real accountability to the young people in the families that we serve. Educators are institution builders that help to create the infrastructure for how Americans see the project of our American democracy,” said Davis Gates. “We want to connect people not just to the affordability crisis but the crisis of our institutions being marginalized in this moment and the impact on our…

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