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May 1st belongs to workers. Born out of the 1886 Haymarket struggle right here in the United States, May Day has been claimed by working people across the globe as a day to stand together, speak out and fight back. While the bosses and establishment politicians moved our official holiday to September to bury workers' radical history, we haven't forgotten.


Tomorrow, Thursday, May 1st, railroaders join millions of workers worldwide in celebrating International Workers' Day. We carry on the tradition of rank-and-file resistance that has defined Railroad Workers United since 2008: fighting Precision Scheduled Railroading, opposing long and heavy trains, demanding two-person crews, and insisting that every rail worker gets home safe and free of injury and illness.


Right now, our fight against the proposed UP-NS railroad merger is front and center. The consolidation of Class One carriers is a direct threat to rail workers, rail safety and the communities we serve. We need every railroader engaged in this fight.



In the United States and Canada, the "official" holiday for workers is Labor Day in September. After the Haymarket Incident in Chicago, U.S. President Grover Cleveland "feared" that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 would become an opportunity to commemorate Haymarket and radical worker struggle. Thus, he pushed for U.S. Labor Day to be the first Monday in September.

In the United States, efforts to officially switch Labor Day back to the May 1st have been unsuccessful. However, a number of unions and locals — especially in urban areas with strong support for organized labor — have maintained a connection with labor traditions through their own "unofficial" observances on May 1.

RWU also stands behind the call for Common Contract Expiration Dates across industries, converging in two years on May Day 2028. First championed by UAW President Shawn Fain, this initiative envisions workers across sectors bargaining — and if necessary, striking — together. 

Imagine the power of a unified working class walking out on May 1, 2028. The time to build toward it is now.


Get out there this May Day and join the May Day gatherings happening across the country. We're proud partners of the May Day Strong campaign — find an event near you listed on their website or one otherwise organized in your local community and show up.


Bring RWU's message with you! Download and print our latest fliers and campaign pamphlets at the links below — on the merger fight and many of our ongoing campaigns — and put them in the hands of your fellow workers and May Day demonstrators! They can all be printed double-sided on a standard 8.5 x 11" piece of office paper. Analog is radical!

Railroad Workers United has put the safety, well being, job quality, and voices of working railroaders at the center of its organizing since 2008. We amplify their voices today and keep the spirit of working class resistance, rank & file democracy, and good troublemaking alive in the rail industry.

Solidarity Forever,

Railroad Workers United

Railroad Workers United

Solidarity -- Unity -- Democracy