May Day in South Carolina: A Stand Against Exploitation and the Fight to End ‘Right to Work
May 1 is not just another date on the calendar. It is the original Labor Day.
May 1st, known as International Workers’ Day or May Day, originated from the American labor movement’s fight for an 8-hour workday, culminating in the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago. While born in the United States to honor the struggles of workers, it became a global day of labor solidarity, while the U.S. shifted its official Labor Day to September.
Today, in Summerville, South Carolina, we stood in that tradition.
We stood with labor.
For far too long, South Carolina has been sold to corporations under the false promise of economic growth. Massive concessions, tax breaks, and political favoritism have created an environment where companies thrive, but workers are left fighting for scraps. “Right to Work” has been the cornerstone of that imbalance. It has weakened worker power, suppressed wages, and ensured that the people who build this state are the very ones denied its full prosperity.
Let’s be clear. This is not opportunity. This is exploitation.
Corporate interests have taken full advantage of a system designed to keep labor cheap and compliant, while a failing political class in Washington continues to look the other way. The result is a widening gap between those who profit and those who produce.
Today, we said enough.
At Hutchinson Square, we joined workers, organizers, and community leaders to call for an end to “Right to Work” in South Carolina. We are demanding a future where workers have real bargaining power, where wages reflect the value of labor, and where dignity is not negotiable.
This is a stand against corporate oligarchs who have treated our state like a discount marketplace, and against policies that have stripped workers of their collective strength.
South Carolina’s workers are not asking for handouts. They are demanding fairness.
And this movement is just getting started.
In solidarity,
President Javar Juarez
South Carolina APRI
#MayDay #WorkersRights #EndRightToWork #EconomicJustice #SouthCarolina
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