Members of the Belmont Education Association (BEA) walked out at the end of the school day on May 1, planning to join a May Day rally in Boston.
According to social media posts, BEA members will join other local teacher unions at Kendall Square in Cambridge and walk to the Boston Common to join a rally expected to draw a crowd of thousands.
The rally, organized by the National Education Association and the Massachusetts Teacher Association, is one of many events across the state being held to honor May Day, an international day of action for working people.
The origins of May Day date back to 19th-century Chicago, when the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (which later became the American Federation of Labor) proclaimed the 8-hour workday on May 1, 1886. That same day was considered the first May Day celebration — more than 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States walked off their jobs.
The BEA has been locked in contract negotiations with the Belmont School Committee for 18 months and entered into state mediation in March.
