An estimated 3,000 May Day rallies and events are scheduled for today in all 50 states, including Maryland, as part of a call for putting workers over billionaires.

More than 30 rallies are planned across Maryland, and hundreds are expected to attend a rally in Baltimore to call for worker solidarity and engage in community building. The rally will take place at the city’s Druid Hill Park, where a block party and organization fair will take place preceding the event.

Alex Sweeney, steering committee member for the Greater Baltimore Democratic Socialists of America, said the day serves as a reminder that workers have power in this economic system.

"We’re marching to demonstrate our collective power as workers, to show the force that we have, the power that we have to halt the system until it works better for all of us," she said, "because we know it is not working for anyone except the ruling class at this point.

The event starts at 2:30 p.m., with the rally beginning at 4 p.m.

May Day commemorates the Haymarket Riot in Chicago, where workers striking for an eight-hour work day were fired upon by police. The violence resulted in the trial and execution of four union members. Now, the holiday is meant to rally for the rights of workers.

Sweeney stressed the importance of not just attending a rally, but building community and connections at events.

"Showing up to a rally, to a protest, a march, is great, but what we really need is long-haul organizing," she said. "So making it community-oriented is making sure that folks get plugged in to organizations, that they get plugged into campaigns, because that’s what is actually going to build our power."

The group May Day Strong consists of hundreds of labor unions, student groups and pro-democracy organizations calling for the end of war, abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, and taxing the rich.

Source: Public News Service