To encourage the working class to support the new regime, the
Nazis sought to take over the trade unions. Union officials and
leaders became targets of harassment and imprisonment, and union
leaders were ousted from their positions, but the Nazi trade
organization failed to establish a power base among the working
class. On May 1, the regime held opulent May Day festivities,
including parades and a festive speech by Hitler. The next day,
the headquarters of all the free trade unions were seized and
their leaders thrown into prison. In the course of May and June,
the unions were dissolved and a German Labor Front was
established under Robert Ley.