A half dozen people gathered on the Discovery Trail pedestrian bridge over I-5 in the West Minnehaha neighborhood of Vancouver, Wash., as part of a May Day rally on May 1, 2026.
Erik Neumann / OPB
Demonstrators in Vancouver, Washington got an early start Friday, waving flags and protest signs on the Interstate 5 pedestrian bridge, high above morning commuters.
They were taking part in a day of action to mark International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day. The international event honors the fight for workers’ rights. Thousands of people are expected to demonstrate in Oregon and across the country today in honor of May Day.
In recent years people have also used the occasion for broader political protests, especially in the Pacific Northwest.
“We plan on being out here from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Linda Erickson of Vancouver told OPB. “And we have signs up that say ‘workers over billionaires,’ and ‘families over billionaires’ and ‘schools over billionaires.’ We have a lot of flags out and big foam hands for people to wave and flags to wave.”
A half dozen Clark County residents gathered on a pedestrian bridge.
Ann Gumbiner, right, joined a half dozen people gathered on the Discovery Trail pedestrian bridge over I-5 in the West Minnehaha neighborhood of Vancouver, Wash., as part of a May Day protest on May 1, 2026.
Erik Neumann / OPB
Related: Nationwide May Day protests expected to pick up mantle of ‘No Kings’
At the South Park Blocks in Portland, several hundred people gathered for a rally led by the Portland Association of Teachers.
Two 11-year-old girls from Marysville School in Southwest Portland led a chant: “What do we want? Smaller classes. When do we want them? Now!”
At the front of the crowd, students from McDaniel High School called on Gov. Tina Kotek to release emergency funding to pay for schools. Portland Public Schools students have the day off, one of four furlough days implemented in the wake of budget deficits.
“A lot of our students and our teachers are losing pay and time to educate themselves, and we’re losing time to be with a community that really supports a lot of students,” sophomore Viola DeVigal said.
Protests, rallies and other events are also planned elsewhere in Vancouver and Portland Friday, as well as in Salem, Eugene and elsewhere around the country and the world.
This story is developing and will be updated.
OPB reporters Alex Zielinski and Erik Neumann contributed to this story.
