Significance of May 1st in our modern times

Many of you may be aware of the importance of May 1st—or May Day—to the broader labor movement. May Day is International Workers’ Day, marking a watershed moment in the fight for the eight-hour workday, and as such, the true Labor Day. At its 1884 convention, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions proclaimed that “eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor from and after May 1, 1886.” In solidarity, on May 1, 1886, “more than 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States walked off their jobs.”  

This May 1st, May Day corresponds with a call for a national general strike, “Workers Against Billionaires,” creating a greater urgency and demand to refuse business as usual, given the damage that “business as usual” has wrought here at MSU and for working people across the country. 

As a newly formed union, it is incumbent upon us to demonstrate our solidarity both with one another and with workers across the country.. 

We understand, however, that our responsibilities at MSU are deeply intertwined with our personal values, passions and interests. The obligations we feel to each other and our students often transcend professional obligations. Particularly during graduation season, when many of us are proud to participate in commencement with students we have mentored in whose successes we have shared.

We encourage you to demonstrate your solidarity with the labor movement and to “refuse business as usual” in any and all ways in which you feel able. Such actions can include demonstrating your solidarity with the labor movement by wearing red or a red square patch, representing UTSF by wearing UTSF buttons and t-shirts to campus events, or attending the “May Day Means Solidarity” demonstration at the Capitol at noon on May 1st. 

UTSF’s national affiliate, the National Education Association (NEA), has a 2026 May Day Toolkit with a wonderful set of resources to help us celebrate May Day together, asserting that “on May 1, 2026, educators will join workers, parents, students, and community members to rise up for dignity, justice, and public investment in our lives, not in billionaires' profit margins.” Please check out the toolkit and share it with your colleagues. 

You should also feel free to share with us via social media (@UTSFmsu) your events or how you will commemorate May Day this year.

Resources:

NEA May Day Toolkit: https://www.nea.org/mayday-toolkit 

Find May Day events in your zip code: https://maydaystrong.org/ (scroll down to the map)

Learn more about May Day 2026: https://maydaystrong.org/ 

May Day (History.com) https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-may-day

The History of May Day in America (NPR.org): https://www.npr.org/2022/04/30/1095729592/what-is-may-day-history 

The True History of May Day: A Workers’ Revolt Turned Global | History Untold. https://youtu.be/N2zMS3FvyV4?si=x-mN60ZTA0VYEWD9