As proletarians around the world suffer at the hands of the global capitalist order, which unmercifully exploits them and is currently offering them up as sacrifice in inter-imperialist war, opportunists everywhere are working tirelessly to channel the barbaric fury of the servile class into the safe channels of peaceful protest and electoral participation. In America, one such brood of democracy-lovers is the May Day Strong coalition. Preaching an “affordability agenda” and “tax justice”, they have committed to organizing a day of “no work, no school, no shopping” for International Workers Day, May 1st, 2026.

While initially characterizing the action as a general strike, this language has mostly been removed from their advertisements for the event, and no wonder, since labor unions make up such a small minority of the groups taking part in the coalition. Of the 205 organizations listed as participants on their website, less than 20 are labor unions. Those unions which are included, such as the American Federation of Teachers and the Communication Workers of America, will probably not call an actual strike and risk breaking their collective bargaining agreements, but will instead encourage their members to participate in the protest as individuals, as was done in Minneapolis, which we have covered in more depth elsewhere. The purpose of this is to dilute the general strike into ineffective and individual acts of protest to ultimately aim for electoral “solutions”.

Their affordability agenda, which reads almost as a left wing counterpart to the Republican Project 2025, claims to offer a roadmap for policymakers to “put the good life for everyone back within reach” through reforms like a federal minimum wage increase or fully funded public housing. Who can remember a time in America when “the good life” really was something that everyone could enjoy? True, earlier generations of American proletarians did benefit from concessions given by the capitalist class to appease them in the wake of the global counter revolution, but these concessions were only made possible by the massive accumulation of capital which occurred during post world war expansion, and were mostly only extended to white workers. It was these concessions that stabilized capital, and allowed the American bourgeoisie to become one of the great plunderers of the world. With this in mind the call by the coalition to “make America great again” can only be understood as the most vile opportunism.

Reforms such as the ones put forward in the agenda never function as the reformers would suggest. At best they are only a false hope for a better life, and at worst they act as a stumbling block for the class struggle and only prolong exploitation. The real beneficiaries of the affordability agenda, if it ever could be put into action, are the petit bourgeois business owners and professionals, represented by the majority of the activist groups taking part in the coalition, who are currently trembling at the thought that with the arrival of the next overproduction crisis, they might find themselves sliding into the ever widening ranks of the proletariat.

We can find solace in the fact that for the most part, the proletarians have not yet allowed themselves to be deceived by these false friends of the worker. When May first comes around, millions of wage earners will go about their business as usual, and the organizers of May Day Strong will pat themselves on the back, post some footage of people waving signs around on their social media accounts, and begin planning their next exhibition. It will take a great disruption and a sharp decline in living standards before the sleeping giant of the proletariat is awakened from its long slumber, and when it does, the International Communist Party will be there to lead it in the final struggle against capital, the world communist revolution.