Demonstrations are planned across Chicago Monday as protesters and marchers mark May Day in the city where the annual event is rooted.
Also known as International Workers’ Day, demonstrators in cities across the country and the globe will mark the annual commemoration with rallies and marches.
This May Day is also bringing together multiple groups who say they want to call attention to racial and economic injustice. Organizers have said they will be focused on women, minorities, the LGBT community and undocumented immigrants. [[420898983, C]]
Among some of the many events slated to take place in Chicago for the first of the month, the Chicago Teachers Union will hold a rally at Seward Elementary School on the city's South Side to protest a lack of state funding.
It’s a message that will be echoed at several schools across the city as the starting bells ring Monday morning, including a Mather High School, where a walk-in will be held for supporters of furloughed Northeastern Illinois University students and workers
The CTU has long been arguing that the state is in large part to blame for a budget crisis they say has impacted area schools. Last week, the city decided not to shorten the CPS school year in an effort to save money.
The CTU represents 25,000 teachers.
An 11 a.m. "March for Youth Justice" is scheduled to be held at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center before protesters in the city come together for a larger rally and march.
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The 1 p.m. rally at Union Park will bring together several groups and feature speakers including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, union leaders and community organizers. Demonstrators will then join a second rally at 4 p.m. in Daley Plaza, which will include the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago May Day Coalition. The rally will be held "in support of labor, racial justice, gender equality, disability rights and immigrant rights."
Tens of thousands of immigrants and their allies are expected to rally in cities across the country. In many places, activists are urging people to skip work, school and shopping to show the importance of immigrants in American communities.
Historically, May Day commemorates an even that took place in Chicago more than 120 years ago – the “Haymarket Massacre.” Over the decades, it has became a focal point for demonstrations by workers and labor organizations, as well as various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups around the world.
While union members traditionally march on May 1 for workers' rights in countries around the world, the day has also become a rallying point for immigrants in the U.S. since massive demonstrations were held on the date in 2006 against a proposed immigration enforcement bill.
