Tuesday, May 01, 2018

Rally to the red banner


May Day is a day for workers to unite. The unity of workers is feared by business and government. Solidarity frightens the institutions of capitalism.

On May Day, we reflect on the history of worker power and present lessons from our past to build power for the future. May Day is part of a revolt against abusive working conditions that caused deaths of workers, poverty wages, poor working conditions and long hours. Today, workers in unions are under attack and the connections between workers’ rights and other issues are evident once again. In order for the few to exploit the many, labor laws have been put in place to weaken workers’ rights and unions. Solidarity is growing as all workers suffer from abuses of the all-powerful capitalist class. The future is more than raising wages and bettering conditions. It is about structural changes to the economy and creating economic justice. 

Various political parties have effectively defanged May Day rallies by turning them into holidays of rest and recreation, pageant events, instead of days of struggle. This is why many demonstrations take place on the Saturday or the Sunday nearest May 1st so they would not have to stop work as they were not working anyway. May Day should be the day which inspires fear in the capitalist class and hope in the hearts of the workers the world over.  May Day is the day of international labour solidarity. May Day belongs to the working class and is dedicated to the establishment of a socialist world.

 On May Day, we pledge to break the power of capital and declare war against the bloodsuckers. The fruit of the workers’ blood and sweat is turned into profits by the capitalists, who return to the workers just enough to sustain them as workers. Their time is over, their days are numbered. Muster beneath the slogan, "Labour Creates All Wealth".  Unite together and struggle together.

Arise, ye prisoners of starvation. Arise, ye wretched of the earth.”

May Day is the day of the working class, the class that has borne untold sufferings and has nothing, nothing to lose but its chains. Workers are learning to understand our common destiny and to reconstruct life on the lines of a human co-operation.

May 5 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, who made evident the failure of  capitalism.  

I oppose all wars but one, the revolutionary class war to rid this earth of the evils of capitalism” - Eugene Debs



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