May Day in Minneapolis

 “May Day in Minneapolis, 2023”

This march was again sponsored by MIRAC – Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, with Women Against Military Madness, Minnesota Workers United and 16 other groups also sponsoring.  It started at 4 P.M. on East Lake Street and wound its way over to the site of a local environmental protest at the Roof Depot.  11 union bodies endorsed – 3 locals of AFSCME, the CWA State Council, AFT, OPEIU, SEIU and a Teamster locals, 1 SEIU state organization, a UE grad students’ local, and Starbucks Workers United.  4 left groups endorsed – Freedom Road, PSL, the CP and DSA, along with anti-war, environmental, abortion and civil rights groups. At least one left group I know of was ignored when they tried to participate, the Trotskyist IMT, while other similar groups were missing.  Other left groups I noticed were the Party of Communists USA and the SWP.  The FRSO had the most presence. 

It was a cool, windy, sunny day in Minneapolis, in the dark lee of the state employment building.  About 350 showed up.  Speakers were from Little Earth / American Indian Movement; MIRAC; the new UE Grad Students Union at the U; the president of the local AFT; an ‘interfaith’ migrant activist; and a Filipino socialist.  What is notable about these gatherings is that they don’t just reflect labor – which is still weak – but social movements that are really part of the labor movement.  The unions that did endorse had little presence however.  One AFSME flag, a few SEIU buttons, a few members, but mostly paper endorsements or one rep, per normal. Abortion rights and anti-police brutality group CUAPB were also there.  I did not follow the march to the Roof Depot.

Police in Minneapolis allow demonstrators to police their own marches, so the Motorcyclists Against Police Brutality again rode in front of the speakers’ flatbed.  Labor in Minneapolis is riding a bit high, as an overwhelming majority of grad students at the U of Minnesota just voted to unionize last week in the UE.  The recent AFT strike in Minneapolis got good raises for non-teaching staff and more protections for teachers.  “Drivers Licenses For All” was just voted in at the state capitol after years of activism.  New leaderships are being elected in various locals, like the Teamsters and Transit Workers.  The voice of younger workers is beginning to be heard.

Labor Day as a national workers’ holiday is now moribund, even here in the ‘pro-labor’ Cities. May Day, a day of international workers’ solidarity, is slowly taking its place.  As the MIRAC speaker noted, the massive 2006 Immigrant Rights March across the country revived May Day in the U.S.  As he wondered, what is wrong with these gringos in the U.S.?  (Gringo is my term.) Well, sometimes it takes a new eye.

One speaker noted that in his home country, the Philippines, marches were held across the country and in Manila.  In France more than a million came out.  In Turkey and Iran, the demonstrations were bigger than usual.  Same in South Korea and Indonesia. Nearly every country has a labor movement more active and left-wing than the U.S.  Our labor tops are almost invisible.  Do you even know the name of the head of the AFL-CIO?  I don't. The crisis of capital involves the whole globe, and labor is everywhere to see it and deal with it.  This is a day to say "Workers of the World Unite!"

Red Frog

May 1, 2023