Photo from 15Now PDX protest in April
  • Photo from 15Now PDX protest in April

Today is International Workers Day!

In countries across Europe (It’s an official holiday over there—what’s wrong with us, America? No metric system and no International Workers Day? What gives?) and also in the US, thousands take to the streets every May Day to protest for things like workers’ rights and, especially this year, police accountability.

Several Portland organizations are participating in one big downtown protest starting at 2 pm with rallies at Shemanski Park in the South Park Blocks, including the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, Don’t Shoot Portland, Portland Right to the City and 15Now PDX.

At 4:30 pm protestors will hit the streets, so drivers might want to avoid the area. The Oregonian posted a handy map of the planned route here.

The holiday as we know it today originated from the fight for an eight-hour work day. The leaders of a socialist organization called Second International called for an international day of protest at the beginning of May 1890. The American Federation of Labour in the UK also organized a protest for the same time, which drew 300,000 protestors to Hyde Park.

So pick your cause and join in Portland’s May Day protests. Let’s be nice, guys. The Mercury will be live tweeting the fun.

5 replies on “It’s May Day: Let’s Protest!”

  1. Wait a sec, are you sure the “American Federation of Labour in the UK” was really a thing? Although I must admit spelling it with that extra u does give it that tea-time, fish-and-chips sort of feel.

  2. I’ll be the one in the crowd with the sign that says, “White Males Kick ASS!”, or actually, one of my interns will be doing that.., but it is MY message.

  4. The problem with this ‘protest’, is that it happens every damned year. Year in and year out, with nothing ever changing because of it. Just like in Europe, it no longer really means anything, except as an excuse to disrupt traffic and a singles hook-up excuse.
    Same thing happens once a year in Japan too, with the same predictable results.
    Nothing.

  5. Why don’t the protesters stand up against the protesters who wear masks? Are you cowards just like the masked cowards?

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