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If we’re going to build enough collective power to win universal healthcare and the right to retire with dignity, then we need to tighten up.

By J. Patrick Patterson, In These Times

May Day 2028

noun

  1. a plan to make union contracts expire May 1, 2028, all across the country — to precede a general strike, led by the United Auto Workers, for concessions from the ruling class.

Whoa, seriously?

UAW President Shawn Fain sure seems serious. As he wrote for In These Times in 2024: If we’re to build ​“enough collective power to win universal healthcare and the right to retire with dignity, then we need to spend the next four years getting prepared.”

Fain first announced the idea in fall 2023, after the UAW’s historic Stand-Up Strike won substantial gains from the Big Three automakers. The UAW has previously aligned their contracts with the Big Three to expire together, but this time, the UAW is also asking unions from sectors across the country to join and, as Fain put it, ​“flex our collective muscles.” The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), the American Postal Workers Union and other major unions have publicly supported the effort.

a general strike event

Sounds difficult.

Yep! Especially in the United States, where union density sits at around 11%. Challenges abound; even if unions want to strike, many don’t have adequate strike funds or capacity, and in the case of many public sector workers, it’s illegal to strike (although they could still support legislative and issue campaigns). May Day 2028 isn’t a pie-in-the-sky idea, but it will take ​“time, mass coordination and a whole lot of work by the labor movement,” according to Fain.

Does this fit in with elections?

The plan could include pressure not just on employers — but on the state itself. Coordinated issue campaigns and disruptive mass strikes across the country could give workers enough leverage to make bold demands, influence elections and fight Project 2025. And if unions band together, the working class could help move the needle on Medicare for All, debt forgiveness, a shorter workweek and other key demands — turning up the heat during the 2028 presidential campaigns.

According to The Nation, the CTU and UAW are in talks to establish an institute to support collective organizing for May Day 2028 and the years to come. It’s too early to know the exact shape the day might take, but an organized, militant and politicized labor movement could put the business class and its politicians on the ropes and secure major gains for working people.

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Economic Justice