There’s a different kind of energy brewing in the Garden State this Friday, and it’s a long way from the Jersey Shore.
The first of May is shaping up to be a day of organized disruption across New Jersey, with a call to action from an activist hub promising to blanket the state.
According to organizers, thousands of Workers Over Billionaires events are being planned across all 50 states, including New Jersey. Each protest is being led by a different local group or coalition.
“We’re coming together this May Day to put workers over billionaires!,” declared Bob WItanek, a longtime activist. “The system is rigged for the ultra-rich, but we don’t have to accept it. While billionaires gut public services, health care accessibility, and more, we’re organizing for a future that puts working people first.”
Organizers are hoping for a “blooming of protest,” urging every able-bodied citizen who feels the tug of revolution to leave their daily business behind and take to the public squares.
Now, we all know May Day has its roots in the old struggles of labor, a day for the working man to demand an honest share from the factory owner. But the folks behind this year’s push have tacked on a few more demands to the cargo manifest.
The primary shout from the rooftops this time is for the United States and Israel to immediately end their aggression against Iran.
They’ve woven that thread into the fabric of a general strike, calling for a stop to work, school, and shopping across the state.
Organizers have framed this year’s May Day events as a stand against Trump administration policies, pointing to immigration enforcement by ICE and the conflict in Iran as part of a larger effort to resist corporate power and federal labor rulings.
The specific grievances are as varied as the towns where they’ll be aired.
A broad coalition of labor unions and community organizations—including the AFL-CIO, New Jersey Education Association, SEIU, NAACP, and Food & Water Watch—will hold a May Day rally and march on May 1 at 11:00 a.m. at the Lincoln Statue on Springfield Avenue in Newark, followed by a march to the federal building on Broad Street, in coordination with nationwide and global demonstrations.
The coalition is calling for higher wages, stronger labor protections, an end to racial discrimination, universal social programs like Medicare for All and free college, and a federal jobs program to guarantee employment.
In Edison, you’ll find a picket line at a local bank branch, which organizers accuse of funding the private companies that run detention centers for ICE, a practice they liken to concentration camps.
That picket is set for Friday, May 1st, from 11am to 1pm.
Organizers are also urging people to join a “Sitdown Strike,” asking folks to avoid going to work or school, and to specifically steer clear of buying from Amazon, Home Depot, or Target.
Up in Newark, a coalition has laid out a six-point list of demands that reads like a fever dream of progressive politics: free everything for all, from health care and housing to education and “clean energy,” paired with a call to “dismantle the [US] war machine” and “take back what the billionaires have stolen.”
A rally is planned at Military Park starting at 3pm. That same day, a student-led walkout is set for noon at Rutgers-Newark, with folks gathering at 175 University Ave to demand “affordability, freedom, and safety.”
May Day organizers have made a point to stress they want nonviolent action and are asking everyone to leave their weapons at home.
In Camden, they’re rallying to “put workers over billionaires” at 2:45 PM.
If you want to join that one, you can get the full details through their event page at https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/event/930671
Down in Bridgeton, organizers say May Day is returning for the first time in 20 years. They’ll be gathering at 147 Irving Ave at 5pm.
Meanwhile, in Newton, the focus is a bit different, aimed squarely at saving programs like Medicaid, Head Start, and Social Security.
https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/event/942495
That rally and march is set for Saturday, May 2nd, from 11am to 1:30pm, at Newton Green on 4 Spring St. They’re also asking folks to help out Benny’s Bodega with donations.
And if you live in Princeton, well, they’ve got something planned too, but unless folks pay close attention to the “Mobilize May Day Strong” listings or fire off a note to the editor, the specific location might be as hard to find as a honest politician on election day.
This all comes at a time when the political temperature is already at a simmer. The groups involved are eager to prove they can sustain a movement beyond a single day of outrage.
They’re not just asking for a moment; one editor’s proposal attached to the event list suggests that these gatherings should become a weekly, “ever presence” in major urban areas, a permanent thorn in the side of the elected.
So, as the mercury rises this Friday, New Jersey residents might find their commute blocked and their local park occupied.
A significant swath of the state is being asked to join what its proponents see as a fight for the nation’s soul, and they’re betting that a few thousand folks will answer the bell.
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