Friday’s NC teacher rally in Raleigh is part of nationwide May Day protests
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- North Carolina teachers will march in Raleigh as part of nationwide May Day protests.
- The Raleigh event is promoted as one of May Day Strong's flagship events.
- Protest demands include higher pay for school employees and more funding for public school
North Carolina teachers who will march in downtown Raleigh on Friday will join a nationwide series of May Day protests.
The Raleigh protest being organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators is among more than 3,500 events across the nation under the May Day Strong banner. Organizers are calling for a day of no work, no school and no shopping to stand up to what they say is “an authoritarian billionaire takeover of government.”
The Raleigh protest is being promoted as one of Friday’s flagship events for May Day Strong.
“We look forward to joining millions of people across the country in the streets on Friday demanding a future that prioritizes the needs of our kids and communities over the greed of corporations and billionaires,” Bryan Proffitt, vice president of NCAE, said at a national press conference Wednesday for the May Day Strong events.
Protest on International Workers’ Day
May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, originated in the 1880s amid a push for an eight-hour workday by labor organizers in Chicago. Labor groups now annually hold events on the day.
The decision to hold the rally on a day also celebrated in socialist and Communist countries has made the protest an easy target for conservatives. Republican House Speaker Destin Hall, for example, said, “Overwhelmingly, most teachers from the state will be at work on Friday. And you know, the group that I understand is putting that on doesn’t spend the time they should on teacher pay raises. They’re more worried about other left wing political interests.”
Last year’s May Day rally drew more than 1,000 people to downtown Raleigh, The News & Observer previously reported. Organizers are expecting significantly more people to attend this year.
Past NCAE protests in May 2018 and May 2019 drew thousands of people to Raleigh. Proffitt, a former Durham social studies teacher, said he again expects thousands of people to come on Friday.
NCAE encouraged school employees across the state to take this Friday off to protest in Raleigh. Protest demands include higher pay for school employees, more funding for public schools and higher taxes on corporations.
“This Friday, for the third time in eight years, in a state with the worst labor laws in the country, and where lots of folks get tricked into thinking that unions are illegal, we are taking action that unites our workplaces and our communities in solidarity in a way that only public school workers can do,” Proffitt said.
NCAE is the North Carolina affiliate of the National Education Association, which is among the more than 500 groups who are helping to organize and support the nationwide May Day Strong events
Staff writer Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed.
This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Friday’s NC teacher rally in Raleigh is part of nationwide May Day protests."
