Voting rights protests: List of October events calling on Amazon, Target, and more to defend democracy against Trump

The May Day Strong coalition is calling on corporations, particularly those with ties to President Donald Trump—such as Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, Target, and Palantir—to defend voting rights ahead of next month’s U.S. midterm elections.

The group, a federation of labor and community organizers, is best known for sponsoring last year’s May 1 anti-Trump protests, which drew tens of thousands of protestors nationwide. Organizers hope to do the same this week, starting Saturday, October 3, with actions and scheduled protests planned for New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Chicago, Tucson, San Francisco, and Culver City, CA, and nationwide on October 8.

The group is “calling on corporations, their CEOs, and local businesses to use their influence to defend free and democratic elections,” which it argues is necessary as the Trump administration escalates its attacks on U.S. voters.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, the Trump administration has: targeted election officials and others who defend fair elections, seized election records, attempted to gain access to state voter rolls, pardoned the January 6 rioters, and elevated election deniers within the government.

With early voting already underway in some U.S. states, the group has sent out letters to Big Tech and other corporations, asking them to pledge and commit to:

1. Giving employees information about their voting rights
2. Publicly oppose efforts that keep eligible voters from casting ballots
3. Oppose attempts to stop votes from being counted or winners from being seated.

Organizers say it wouldn’t be the first time under the Trump administration companies have taken a stand. In January, the heads of 60 companies sent the President a letter calling for de-escalation during the federal occupation of Minneapolis. And in Arizona, CEOs helped end a state push to end birthright citizenship after a year-long boycott in 2011. 

“Corporations that make billions off our work and our communities need to take a stand against attempts to keep us from voting,” said Lauren Jacobs, executive director of PowerSwitch Action. “Corporations will continue to choose to stay silent while our democracy is dismantled around them, unless we take action that makes cowardice a bigger problem for them than speaking up would be.”

Where are the protests happening?

“Pulling Out the Pillar: Corporate Accountability Week of Action” takes place nationwide October 3–11.

Events include:

• Culver City, CA (Oct. 3): March and demonstration calling on Amazon, Sony, Apple, and Pinterest to act. Organized by Culver City and Friends Rising.
• Minneapolis, MN (Oct. 3): March calling on Delta, Target, and the Pohlad family to act, organized by Step Up for Democracy, UnidosMN, and CTUL.
• New York, NY (Oct. 3): Door-to-door canvass focused on Amazon/Whole Foods, organized by NYC-DSA
• New York, NY (Oct. 5): March focused on JPMorgan Chase, organized by Hands Off NYC and May Day Strong NYC.
• Philadelphia, PA (Oct. 6): Protest calling out hedge fund billionaire Jeffrey Yass, organized by the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO.
• Philadelphia, PA (Oct. 6): Press conference and action focused on Palantir, organized by Make the Road.
• San Francisco, CA (Oct. 7): Protest and flyering focused on Palantir and PG&E, organized by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.
• Nationwide (Oct. 8): National mass call for allies and Starbucks workers, organized by Starbucks Workers United.
• Seattle, WA (Oct. 10): Flyering event focused on corporations enabling the administration, organized by Communities Rising.

Additional actions are planned in Chicago, IL (Oct. 6); Davenport, FL (Oct. 3-11); Tucson, AZ (Oct. 7); Albuquerque, NM (Oct. 6); Phoenix, AZ (Oct. 8); and San Francisco, CA (Oct. 8).

Who is behind the May Day Strong coalition?

May Day Strong is a broad coalition of 600 unions, nonprofits, educators, and progressive political groups.

Some of those organizers include: MoveOn, United Steelworkers of America, United University Professions, Upper West Side Action Group, Vermont Progressive Party, Women’s March, Indivisible, American Federation of Teachers, Greenpeace USA, Massachusetts Teachers Association, 50501, The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Union of Southern Service Workers, and Florida National Organization for Women.