‘No School, No Work’ Teacher Strike Takes A Page From Communist May Day

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), never a group to shy away from radical posturing, has officially declared its intent to abandon the classroom on May 1. In a move that effectively amounts to a one-day strike, the union’s 730-member House of Delegates approved a resolution joining a national movement calling for a day of “no school, no work, and no shopping.”

The CTU isn’t just asking its members to walk out; it’s demanding that Mayor Brandon Johnson and the school board use state law to excuse students so they can participate in what the union calls “civic action.”

The choice of May 1 is no coincidence. While the date’s origins trace back to the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago, it was quickly co-opted by the global far-Left. In 1889, the Second International—a collection of socialist and labor parties—designated it as a day of demonstration. By 1917, it became the premier state holiday of the Soviet Union, complete with Red Square parades featuring tanks and missiles intended to signal the “proletariat’s” triumph over capitalism.

While the United States spent decades trying to distance itself from these connotations—establishing “Loyalty Day” and “Law Day” on May 1 to counter communist influence—the CTU appears eager to revive the day’s most radical sentiments.

The CTU’s resolution reads less like an educational mandate and more like a manifesto from a bygone era of class warfare. The union’s demands are explicitly political and heavily flavored with the “tax the rich” rhetoric synonymous with communist agitation.

According to the resolution, the CTU intends to:

• Target the Wealthy: The union is demanding that the government “tax the rich to support our schools,” echoing the classic Marxist refrain of wealth redistribution.
• Abolish Enforcement: In a direct challenge to federal law, the union is calling for “ICE out of our cities,” referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• Attack “Authoritarianism”: The resolution rails against “MAGA politicians,” “billionaire donors,” and “corporate interests,” claiming these groups are “attempting to cement authoritarian power.”

CTU Vice President Jackson Potter stated, “Teaching our students what civic action looks like requires more than textbooks when the President sends federal agents to occupy our cities …” Meanwhile, CTU member Kevin Moore justified the walkout by claiming “public education is under attack,” asserting that taking children out of school to participate in political rallies is a way of “teaching our students how to use their voice.”

Instead of math and literacy, the CTU wants students to engage in “age-appropriate” civic education, which apparently includes “mass resistance training” and “political education,” according to the union’s resolution. The union is also using the platform to weigh in on foreign policy, writing, “Trump has illegally declared war on Iran built on lies and deception.”

Mayor Johnson, a former CTU organizer himself, signaled support for the “direct action,” though he vaguely promised to ensure “no loss of instruction time”—a difficult feat when the union is actively calling for “No School.”

As the CTU pivots from education to overt political activism, it remains to be seen how Chicago parents will react to their children being used as pawns in a movement that shares more DNA with the Soviet Union’s “Workers’ Day” than with the American classroom.