No Work, No School, No Shopping
By Arnie Alpert, Active with the Activists
Arnie Alpert spent decades as a community organizer/educator in NH movements for social justice and peace. Officially retired from the American Friends Service Committee since 2020, he keeps his hands (and feet) in the activist world while writing about past and present social movements. You can reach him at arnie.alpert@indepthnh.org.
Gatherings in eleven or more New Hampshire communities will mark International Workers Day, Friday May 1, with rallies promoting the theme, “Workers over Billionaires.” Local and national organizers are calling for a day of “No work. No School. No Shopping.”
The local demonstrations are part of the nationwide May Day Strong campaign, which organizers say is made up of more than 500 labor unions, student groups, community organizations, pro-democracy, immigrant rights, and racial justice groups. Speaking for the coalition members, organizers say, “May 1st, 2026 will be a historic day of worker and student-centered protest to stand up to what they say is an authoritarian billionaire takeover of government.”
Their demands:
1) Tax the rich: our families before their fortunes
2) No ICE, no war and
3) Expand democracy, not corporate power: hands off our vote.”
Statements by organizers of local New Hampshire events track the national ones, but with some variation. For example, NH Forward, which is organizing a rally in Derry, says, “It is time for us to follow the path of the workers that fought before us. Today we are witnessing wealth disparity on an unprecedented scale.” They plan to meet at 3 p.m. in the parking lot of Hood Shopping Plaza. “From there,” they say, “we’ll move out onto Crystal Ave and surrounding corners to march and protest for our demand that the rich pay their fair share!”
The union of graduate student workers at UNH in Durham will hold a “Community Town Hall” focused on issues within the University System.
The Southern NH chapter of Democratic Socialists of America says the rally they and coalition partners are organizing at Veterans Park in Manchester will “celebrate all the hard work our local unions and workers do to keep this state running.” In addition to speakers and live music, their rally will feature booths with educational materials about worker rights, local labor history, and opportunities for community involvement.
Unions made up of graduate and undergraduate student workers will hold rallies on the Dartmouth Common starting at 3 p.m. A Concord rally, sponsored by 24 organizations, will emphasize the voices of immigrant leaders. Plymouth organizers are asking participants to bring donations of food and clothing for distribution to local free stores and food pantries. And in Portsmouth, the Leftist Marching Band will perform in Market Square at 5:15 p.m.
Publicity for all the events says, “A core principle behind all our events is a commitment to nonviolent action,” including a request that no weapons, even legal ones, be brought to any of the May Day events.
The first day of May, which has been an occasion for labor rallies since 1886 and immigrants’ rights marches since 2006, took on new significance last year due to President Donald Trump’s assaults on immigrants and unions. Looking forward, the United Autor Workers has proposed that labor and allied groups consider holding a general strike in 2028. “May Day is the international worker’s day, and it’s our opportunity to create a crisis for the billionaire class to win more for all of us,” the UAW says. “We know that when workers align their fights to the same timeline, we have more leverage than we do alone. What if we didn’t just do that in a corporate chain or one union, but across the country and the labor movement?”
While this year’s protests are not expected to rise to that level, the call for “no work, no school, no shopping” suggests that organizers are considering mass non-cooperation as a way to challenge what they perceive as authoritarianism and oligarchy.
New Hampshire events include:
Berlin, Noon at Veterans Memorial Park.
Claremont, 5 to 7 pm at Broad Street Park.
Concord, 11am to 1pm at City Plaza on N. Main Street, in front of the State House.
Derry, 3 to 6pm at Hood Shopping Plaza, 46 Crystal Ave.
Durham, 12:40 to 2pm at MUB Theatre 2.
Francestown, 5 to 6:30pm, 2 New Boston Rd, Intersection of Rt. 136, Rt. 47 and 2nd NH Turnpike South.
Hanover, 3pm teach-in led by GOLD-UE and 4pm rally led by SWCD and other campus groups on the Dartmouth Green.
Keene, Noon to 1pm at Central Square.
Manchester, 5 to 9pm at Veteran’s Memorial Park, 723 Elm St.
Plymouth, 4 to 6pm at 1 Bridge St.
Portsmouth, 5:15 pm at Market Square