source: May Day Coalition-Cleveland
May Day March 2026
Workers Over Billionaires! MAY DAY. Together We Stand.
March for workers’ rights!
Stand up against ICE!
Friday, May 1, 4-6pm
Gather at Public Square (southwest quadrant in front of Terminal Tower)
Organizer: May Day Coalition-Cleveland.
Link to the event here: https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/event/921516/
Friday, May 1, 4-6pm. March for workers’ rights! Stand up against ICE! Gather at Public Square (southwest quadrant in front of Terminal Tower). Organizer: May Day Coalition-Cleveland.
May Day 2026 marks the 107th anniversary of what became known as the “Cleveland May Day Riots.” The only “rioting,” however, was by the police and vigilantes targeting “reds” (anyone who supported workers’ rights or criticized political bosses). A series of violent attacks on marchers began about a half mile from Public Square, after a contingent left the Socialist Party’s downtown headquarters. By the end of the day, 200 people were injured, including two fatally. The 1919 Cleveland May Day demonstration, drawing 30,000 people, was one of the largest in the country and, at that time, the largest protest in the city’s history. It remains an important chapter in Cleveland labor history.
Jump to 2026. Today billionaires have taken over the federal government, gutted public services and used those funds to fill their bank accounts and fund a private army that is kidnapping and killing our neighbors.
Our military is bombing girls’ schools in Iran while our education system is under attack, workers’ rights are being trampled upon, immigrant workers and unhoused neighbors are being targeted, artificial intelligence is not only ravaging the environment, but stealing the labor of artists and experts while perpetually surveilling us all.
In these turbulent times it is more important than ever to form broad-based coalitions to confront the ever-encroaching fascism and push forward a positive agenda for workers of all types and stripes. We are doing that right here in Cleveland.
This May Day (International Workers’ Day) we say
NO to war in Iran,
NO to genocide in Palestine ,
NO to ICE occupation,
NO to Epstein class impunity and
NO to fascism.
We say YES to human rights, workers’ rights, and renters’ rights.
We say YES to funding education, food sovereignty, housing and healthcare.
We say YES to the democratic control of the profits of our labor.
We say YES to our future.
One way we do this is by withdrawing our labor from the market and placing it in community.
That’s why on May 1, thousands of organizations across this country have called for a day of no work, no school, and no shopping. To stop a takeover of our democracy by the very rich, we will take action together to demand a government that puts our families over their fortunes.
We know that there are too many without the freedom to exercise these actions safely and securely yet, and that’s why we organize from now until we get there.
Solidarity Over Everything
Organized by the Cleveland May Day Coalition. Members and endorsers include:
Avanzamos Unidos Action Fund
Black Lives Matter – Cleveland
Black Nationalist of the Republic of New Libya
Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights
Cleveland Jobs with Justice
Cleveland Owns
Cleveland Peace Action
Cleveland Sex Workers Alliance
Cleveland Sudan Network
Cleveland United Against War
Clevelanders for Public Transit
CPUSA: Communist Party USA - Cleveland
Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus
DSA: Democratic Socialists of America - Cleveland
FRSO: Freedom Road Socialist Organization - Cleveland
Indivisble NEO
InterReligious Task Force on Central America & Colombia
Jewish Voice for Peace - Cleveland
Kinnect United
Legal Aid United
National Writers Union
NEOCH: Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless
Northeast Ohio Community Resilience Centre
Northeast Ohio Worker Center
NWU: National Workers Union
Ohio Poor People’s Campaign
Ohio Working Families Party
OPAWL: Building AAPI Feminist Leadership
Palestinian Youth Movement
PSL: Party for Socialism and Liberation
REACH: Responding with Empathy, Access, and Community Healing
Rising Star Workers Union
Showing Up for Racial Justice NEO
Starbucks Workers United - Cleveland
Workers World Party/Mundo Obrero
