Two wrongs don’t make a right.

So why would anyone think it’s okay to commit an injustice while protesting another injustice? 

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) will “...shut down the flow of commerce in Oakland” on May 1, 2015 to send “...a message to the powers that be that the murders of Tamil Rice, Eric Garner, and hundreds of others since Michael Brown will no longer be tolerated without consequences,” according to Occupy Oakland.

If unions are so against injustice, why are they unjustly hurting the economy by “...clogging the arteries of the One Percent,” who had nothing to do with Tamil Rice, Eric Garner or Michael Brown? 

In fact, the “consequences” of this shutdown will hurt many innocent Americans, not just the One Percent.  Reuters reported that the ILWU West Coast slowages earlier this year brought immense devastation to the economy, hurting all Americans.

One source from a manufacturing company in Colorado spoke on background to the Center for Worker Freedom, explaining that workers at his facility had to be let go because the ILWU’s port disruptions were so hard on his company.

And the ILWU isn’t the only union walking off the job tomorrow. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO) will be striking for “justice in communities of color” at the Dragon’s Gate in Chinatown in Los Angeles.

It’s no coincidence that these unions, along with others, chose May 1 for their demonstrations. May 1 – May Day – is also known as International Worker’s Day. 

It began in May 1886, when the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions declared, “...eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labor from and after May 1, 1886.” That day unions began nation-wide protests that lasted for several days.

On May 3, 1886, a rally held outside of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company factory in Chicago, Illinois got out of hand, and at least two workers were killed after policemen fired on the crowd.

The following day, many gathered at Haymarket Square, also in Chicago, to protest the shootings. An unidentified person threw a bomb at the police and chaos erupted, leaving both police and protestors injured and dead.

Though May Day’s origins are in the United States, it is more commonly celebrated by other countries – Communist countries.

According to the The New American article titled “The History of May Day,” the first of May: 

"...[H]as been for over a century the most important calendar day of the year for communists, socialists, and anarchists. This was the traditional day in the Soviet Union and the communist bloc countries for massive parades, replete with missiles, tanks, rank upon rank of goose-stepping troops, red flags, and huge posters of Marx and Lenin." 

Both unions and communists use May 1 to attack prosperity in the guise of "social justice."  

No wonder Vladimir Lenin described unions as a “school of communism.”