WCU May Day 2026
Purpose
WCU’s May Day event should be a public entry point into our ongoing work, and into the broader work happening in Stockton, rather than an action that ends up feeling symbolic or detached from our real base and capacity.
This event should help us:
- Bring workers, tenants, and families into contact with WCU
- Build a disciplined public presence
- Connect people to local organizing after the rally
Political Line
WCU should center workers and tenants in San Joaquin County. The event should speak plainly about the pressures working people face:
- Rent is too high, along with landlord and property management abuse
- Wages are too low and not keeping up
- Working people are getting squeezed from every side
- Stockton runs because working-class people make it run
- Big landlords, bankers, bosses, and connected insiders keep taking more while working people get less
Messaging
The public message should have a clear and understandable structure:
- Who we are talking about: workers, tenants, families, and the people who make San Joaquin run
- What is happening to them: rent keeps rising, pay stays low, jobs get less stable, and prices keep climbing
- Who is responsible: big landlords, developers, bankers, bosses, and the connected insiders who run Stockton for profit
- What we are fighting for: dignity at work, security at home, homes people can afford, jobs that pay well, and real power for workers and tenants
- What people should do: come out, meet neighbors and coworkers, and get organized with WCU
We should use everyday speech, not movement jargon or the kind of inflated language activists sometimes fall into. We should also avoid abstract “community” language that hides class conflict. The point is to make class conflict explicit by clearly identifying the people and forces squeezing working people.
When we name local enemies, we should do it plainly and tie every name to a concrete role: development, banking, land use, appointments, or donor power. We are trying to make class rule and class conflict visible, not to sound conspiratorial.
May Day Event
General Event Description and Assumptions
WCU should lead a public rally in Stockton, possibly at Victory Park, on the evening of May 1st, lasting 60 to 90 minutes.
We should expect under 100 people, avoid doing a march, provide hotdogs and chips, and make it explicitly family friendly.
The program should mostly feature WCU speakers for the opening and closing, along with a couple of closely politically aligned guests and any unions that want to present and can speak for two minutes without turning it into a pitch for Democrats.
Possible invitees include:
- Local workers in organizing committees
- DSANCV
- CVBIPOC
- Farmworker organizers
- Workers’ Voice
- Leftist Book Club
To hold the event well, we need:
- Translation on our materials
- A childcare space
- Cornhole games, other games, snacks
- Food and water
- @chima: grill
- Others: hotdogs, buns, water, soda, veggie options, ice chest, chips
- A clear greeting and signup flow
- Follow-up with everyone who signs up within 24 hours
Slogans and Messages
Title: Fighting for Dignity at Work, Security at Home
Subtitle: Stockton works because we do.
Supporting messages:
- There are wealthy investors and giant landlords who work very hard to make sure they can take more and more of your paycheck every month.
- May Day came from below. It was made by working people themselves, and it should still belong to the people who work for a living.
- Strikes and shutdowns matter when organized people can back each other up. Our task this May Day is to help build that power in Stockton.
- Stockton is being run for landlords, developers, bankers, and bosses, not the people who actually build homes, harvest food, transport materials, and provide care.
Bridge to Our Other Work
We should have materials and asks ready that point people toward one or two concrete WCU paths after May Day.
Possible next steps include:
- Ask people if they want to start a tenant campaign in their building
- Hold an open house soon after the event
- Offer lower-effort tasks for people who are not ready for a bigger commitment
Event Buildup
We have a little over two weeks, about 18 days, until May 1st. We should use this time to become more visible and promote both the event and our broader work.
Current buildup plan:
- Two to three public outreach pushes at Earth Day and weekend markets
- Hang up flyers at transit spots, busy corners, apartment-heavy areas, and near warehouses
- Ask members to make direct turnout asks to coworkers, neighbors, friends, and family networks
- Hold one sign-making or art-build evening during the last week that also doubles as organizer prep
Speaker Prep
Speakers should:
- Stay within their time limit
- Connect their speech to a local story, organization, or organizing effort instead of speaking only about outrage at the national level
Success Metrics
- Around 50 attendees
- At least 5 new solid contacts
Day Of
Setup and Arrival
If we say the event starts at 6:00 PM, we should plan to arrive around 5:15 PM so we have enough time to prepare.
We should set up:
- Tables
- Water and food
- Signs
- Speaker equipment
- Literature table
Greeting at Arrival
We should have someone welcome people as they arrive and handle sign-in.
That should include:
- Handing out a flyer
- Pointing out water and food
- Asking how they heard about the event and what brought them out, so we can document it later
Opening and Speeches
The program should move cleanly from welcome to speeches without dragging.
WCU Closing Ask
The closing should clearly invite people into next steps with WCU.
Post-Speech Time
After the speeches, at least a couple of us should stay focused on talking with people and asking whether they would like to participate in anything we raised during the event.
Materials
We should prepare:
- A banner for the table
- Bilingual flyers explaining our work and how people can join
Additional Notes
On “No Work, No School, and No Shopping”
We should not use the call for “no work, no school, and no shopping.” The problem is not that strikes or boycotts are bad. The problem is that a blanket call like this asks people to take risks as isolated individuals, substitutes symbolic shutdown language for organized power, and overstates our capacity, and the capacity of the broader left in San Joaquin.
Instead, we should make a positive argument for organized power in Stockton: communication and contact among workers, tenants, and families; concrete campaigns around rent, work, and dignity; and laying the groundwork for future collective action.
We should also avoid outright rejecting the language of no work, no school, and no shopping, because that can make us sound defensive or passive. We should instead point to examples of what strikes and shutdowns can do when they are backed by organized workers or tenants with concrete demands.
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Updated after our working meeting on April 14.