In advance of a major Occupy rally planned for Tuesday, President Obama delivered a speech this morning filled with class warfare rhetoric.

The president warned union members that Republicans would rather give "rich folks" more tax breaks, than invest in the American worker.

"Republicans in Congress would rather put fewer of you to work rebuilding America than ask millionaires and billionaires to live without massive new tax cuts on top of the ones they’ve already gotten," Obama declared in a speech to to construction union members at the Hilton hotel in Washington.

Obama added that Republicans' economic plan depended on tax cuts for the rich and "dismantling your unions."

"I mean, if you ask them, what’s their big economic plan in addition to tax cuts for rich folks, it’s dismantling your unions.  After all you’ve done to build and protect the middle class, they make the argument you’re responsible for the problems facing the middle class," Obama added.

The president praised the unionized middle class as the for contributing to an economy based on the middle class.

"You believed prosperity shouldn’t be reserved just for a privileged few; it should extend all the way from the boardroom all the way down to the factory floor."

Tuesday, May 1st has been recognized by labor organizers as International Workers’ Day.

Sign Up for the Politics Today newsletter!

Please enter your email address below to begin receiving the Politics Today newsletter.

You must enter a valid email address in the field above!

Thank you for signing up for the Politics Today newsletter! You should receive your first newsletter very soon.

We're sorry, there was an error processing your newsletter signup. Please click here to visit our Newsletter Signup Center to register for this newsletter.

It is usually celebrated by left-wing activists as a day to protest for workers rights, by creating a general strike in protest for unequally.

This year, the Occupy movement has declared a general strike in solidarity with union workers to protest economic inequality.

"Don't go to work or school on Tuesday!" proclaims the Occupy Wall Street website, "For the first time, workers, students, immigrants, and the unemployed from over 125 U.S. cities will stand together for economic justice."