It's Brian Lehrer, and this is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Friday, May 1st.

Today is May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, and also being labeled today as

essential Workers' Day. It's a bigger holiday in many other countries than it is here,

but this year is different, obviously. Never in any of our lifetimes, I don't think, has there

been a more extreme crisis labor situation than there is today, or one that lays bare as much of the structural

inequality in our country. There are one-day strikes and boycotts going on in various

places today and calls for doing more right now to protect and pay fairly. The largely

working class, largely black and brown, largely ignored in normal times workers

who other people are realizing in new ways, keep them safe and keep them fed, not to mention

keep their hair cut and their gym equipment working.

According to the business news website Fast Company, a May Day General Strike will unite employees at Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart, Target, shipped, FedEx, and Walmart in a single sprawling effort.

An organizer's press release, cited by The Intercept, says workers, mostly non-unionized, given their employer's notorious union-busting

reputations, will call in sick or walk off the job during their lunch break, picketing

outside their warehouses and storefronts today. Joining me now is Jane McAlevy, organizer,

senior policy fellow at the University of California at Berkeley's Labor Center.

She is a correspondent for the nation who covers labor and especially strikes, and author of a book

that came out just this year. She was here for a book interview, a collective bargain, unions organizing

and the fight for democracy. Jane, always good to have you on. Welcome back to WNYC.

Thank you, Brian. It's always good to be on your show. So your new article in the nation today

begins with some history about why we celebrate Labor Day in September in this country,

while it's May 1st in much more of the world. And we don't mention President Grover Cleveland's name much on this show.

So would you tell us some of the origins of May Day and how the United States went its own way?

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