Low-wage workers are getting support from actor Martin Sheen, who is expected to deliver a May Day address in Chicago on Friday morning.
Sheen will deliver his remarks at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios on the West Side as part of a fundraising event for Arise Chicago, a workers' rights advocacy group.
May Day, or International Workers' Day, is an annual commemoration of the Haymarket Square riot that took place in Chicago in 1886 during the peak of the American labor movement. The day is typically marked on May 1 by labor-focused demonstrations around the world.
"International Workers' Day, also know as May Day, was born in Chicago from the struggles of immigrant laborers," Arise Chicago notes in a press advisory. "Sheen, himself a son of immigrant parents, is a lifelong social justice advocate. Motivated by his deep Catholic faith, he has been arrested 66 times for protesting and committing acts of civil disobedience."
Check back with Progress Illinois for coverage of local May Day demonstrations scheduled to take place this afternoon.