APPLETON (NBC 26) — Dozens gathered at Houdini Plaza in downtown Appleton Friday, joining nationwide May Day protests and calling for peace, higher wages, better working conditions, and "workers over billionaires."
The demonstrations, organized by labor unions and immigrant rights groups, called for a "no work, no school, no shopping" economic blackout. Protesters said they want to remind people that their voices — and their votes — matter.
Richard Rabe, of Fox Valley Indivisible, said the turnout reflects a generational shift in who is showing up to protest.
"I started protesting back in 1970, protesting the Vietnam War that was college students and high school students," Rabe said. "Now it's, you look around, it's mostly my generation, and we need the young people to wake up and get out here and be heard and to vote. It's no good to protest if you don't vote."
Rabe said organizers hope the event builds momentum for continued awareness.
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, traces back more than a century to a pivotal period in U.S. labor history.
In the 1880s, unions pushed for an eight-hour workday. A Chicago rally in May 1886 turned deadly when a bomb exploded and police responded with gunfire. Several labor activists — most of them immigrants — were convicted of conspiracy and other charges; four were executed.
Unions later designated May 1 to honor workers.
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Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
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