Activists set May Day Salt Lake march, rally and bike brigade for today

In honor of International Workers Day — also known as May Day — Occupy SLC and other activists groups hosted a march and rally Tuesday.

Billed as a family-friendly event, activists gathered at the Salt Lake City Hall, 451 S. State St., and then marched several blocks north to the State Capitol for a rally, where a full roster of speeches was delivered.

Salt Lake City's May Day coalition included Industrial Workers of the World, Occupy SLC, the Revolutionary Students Union and an activist network called United for Social Justice.

May Day, a national holiday in scores of countries around the world, celebrates the international labor movement. It dates back to the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, where workers were striking for an eight-hour work day when violence broke out. Police fired on demonstrators and shot some of their own officers.

Other May Day events included an interfaith prayer service for workers at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, 7405 S. Redwood Road, in West Jordan. The parish celebrated its one-year anniversary and recently renamed its food pantry in honor of Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Workers Movement.