May Day

May Day is Friday. Are you ready?

May Day as a labor holiday traces back to the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago, where workers were striking for an 8-hour workday. The movement was brutal — police and protesters clashed, people died — but it helped spark an international labor movement that chose May 1st as its day of commemoration.

Massachusetts has deep roots in all of this. The 1912 Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence — mostly immigrant women textile workers — is one of the most celebrated labor actions in American history. The demand wasn't just fair wages but dignity: "bread and roses." That spirit spread nationally.

Westfield itself was a manufacturing town — paper, whips, bicycles — built on working-class labor. Those workers didn't have weekends, sick days, or safety standards handed to them. Someone fought for all of it.

That's what May Day is actually about. The people demanding a life worth living. Feels pretty relevant right now.

This Saturday, dozens of us showed up at Park Square for Communities Not Cages — part of a national day of action against ICE detention warehouses. Thank you to everyone who came out!

May 1st is International Workers' Day, and we're rallying at Park Square from 2–4 PM. Teach-ins, art stations, signs, and people who give a damn. We'll also be joining the WMALF march in Holyoke from 4:30–6:30 PM — full details at nokingswestfield.com/may-day-2026.

Sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/event/932353/

If you're a worker, take the day if you can. If you can't, don't shop — especially not at Amazon, Home Depot, Target and more here: https://www.iceoutboycott.com/

If you're a student, organize a walkout. Every major movement in this country has had students at the front.

If you're not sure where you fit, just show up. That's how it starts.

We still need marshals, speakers, and people to bring one new person. Reach out at [email protected] or just show up Tuesday or Friday.

See you Friday!

— No Kings Westfield