Yesterday, on May 1st, a broad coalition of progressive groups and unions participated in May Day Strong to show their strength “with many refusing business as usual through No School. No Work. No Shopping.” Working with the organizing coalition, my team surveyed hosts who were coordinating events and participants who registered to participate through May Day Strong across the US. Here are some preliminary findings from the 250 hosts and 1,680 participants who took our pre-May Day survey.
Almost everyone (91%) reported planning to participate in a collective event (vs alone). The most common plan was not to shop on May Day. Here’s the complete breakdown of commitments:
61% of participants and 96% of hosts reported being a member of a group that was part of the organizing coalition for May Day Strong. Almost all respondents reported having participated in the No Kings 3 Day-of-Action in March (97% of hosts and 92% of participants).
In addition to Trump, Immigration, and Peace/Anti-War, which were the top motivations at No Kings 3, respondents reported that Income Inequality and Politics/Voting were also top motivations for joining. Given the focus of May Day and the fact that the US Supreme Court had just “knocked out a major pillar of the law that had protected against racial discrimination in voting and representation” in the US on Wednesday, these priorities should not surprise anyone.
Like participation in the big days of action against the Trump Administration and its policies (including the three No Kings Days), participants in May Day were majority female (76%), predominantly White (94%), older (the mean age of participants was 68), had voted for the democratic candidate in the previous presidential election (97%), and were highly educated (78% of participants reported having a university degree or more).
When asked about organizations engaged in non-violent civil disobedience (e.g sit-ins, blockades), there was overwhelming support (98% of participants and 97% of hosts). Respondents were also asked if they support ‘social movements taking more confrontational action against the Trump Administration’: 76% of participants and 77% of hosts agreed generally and 60% of participants and 65% of hosts reported that they personally would participate if given the opportunity.
We are currently working with the coalition to do a follow-up survey, which will hopefully include responses from a broader range of participants. Stay tuned for those data when we have them…
Dana R Fisher 