May day greetings from around the world
See also the cwi May day statement Make capitalism history – Fight for socialism!, 27 April 2005
socialistworld.net
cwi may day greetings
Belgium
For a socialist alternative to the madness of capitalism!
A hundred years after the first international May Day protests in 1890 and the fight to obtain a working day of 8 hours, the bosses and the government again are forcing workers and their families to fight for decent working and living conditions.
On 21 December 2004 over 50,000 workers demonstrated in Brussels to protest against the attacks of the bosses and the government, and on 19 March a further 80,000 demonstrated in a European mobilisation for jobs and against the neo-liberal project of the European Union.
Workers in different industries are today fighting for better wages. While there seems to be plenty of money to pay huge amounts in wages and bonuses to the bosses, there isn’t enough money to give the workers a real wage increase. The fight of the ’White Anger’ (in the "non-profit sector" – health workers, social workers,…) has shown that it is possible to gain significant concessions, after months of demonstrations and strikes the government had to give 100 million euro extra to the workers.
The Belgian section of the CWI, Linkse Socialistische Partij – Mouvement pour une Alternative Socialiste (LSP-MAS), supports all workers and their families who fight for better working and living conditions. Increasingly workers don’t accept the logic of the present system in which they have to work more and harder for less money. This has already led to several protests and strikes, but in future these will have to be coordinated to unite workers on a national and even an international level, just like the fight for the 8 hours working day in the 19th century.
- Fight the offensive of the bosses by workers unity in action!
- Down with the political puppets of the bosses, down with the establishment parties, for a new mass workers party to fight for the demands of the workers and their families!
- For a socialist alternative to the madness of capitalism!
Chile
Latin America in Struggle
Practically the whole of Latin America is in turmoil, with country after country seeing constant struggles, with periods of calm being the exception.
Also, the continent has seen disappointment after disappointment for the workers and indigenous peoples with their governments whom they first voted for and then had to kick out but into the rubbish bin. This continent is being turned into one of throw-away governments.
These events have to be seen in the context of the absence of a working class alternative, and even though workers are searching for this alternative, unfortunately much confusion still exists.
Chile, is beginning to put itself on a similar level as the rest of the continent in terms of struggle. In the last few days we have had mobilisations of students in both the universities and schools, the small-scale fishermen and new occupations of the land by the Mapuches in the South of the country
This first of May promises to be more combative with a bigger mobilistation than previous years as we are beginning to regain the best traditions of the working class.
Inevitably the necessity to struggle for democratic socialism will also be revived
Socialismo Revoluciónario
Germany
Challenge capitalism!
Stand for a socialist democracy!
German society has undergone dramatic changes.
Agenda 2010, the government’s austerity package, marks the beginning of the end of the German welfare state.
Following changes in the unemployment legislation, unemployed will now not only receive lower benefits but can be forced to move into cheaper and smaller accommodation and to accept jobs that pay €1 an hour.
Workers in all sectors have been forced to accept longer working hours and cuts in wages.
Redundancies are still the order of the day. Huge anger and alienation from the established parties and the system are a dominant feature in the consciousness of working class people.
In a recent opinion poll, as many as 4% have indicated that they have faith in any of the established parties.
Unfortunately-while there is huge anger- the well paid trade union leadership, whose job would be to side with the workers, the youth and the unemployed are not only avoiding to organise resistance but very often openly sabotaging the rank and file.
When General Motors announced mass redundancies in Germany, workers at Opel Bochum took illegal strike actions. For a full week, they fought a struggle which gained them huge solidarity and symapthy across the country. However, on a demonstartion of more than 20,000 in the region, trade union leaders and politicians did everything to explain that workers should resume work.
Workers and young people in Germany as well as everywhere else need rebuild the trade union movement and need to build new mass parties of the working class. The coming into existence of WASG, a new left party in Germany, marks the first step into the right direction.
CWI members in Germany are currently involved in WASG’s first election campaign in Germany’s most populous regional state North- Rhine Westfalia.
At the first party congress of WASG on May 7/8, we will argue the case for the new party to accept a programme that challenges capitalism and stands for a socialist democracy.
This would follow the rich socialist traditions of the German workers’ movement of Marx and Engels, Bebel, Luxemburg and Liebknecht.
Socialist Alternative
Northern Ireland
Against sectarianism and the bosses!
For worker’s unity and socialism!
Revolutionary May Day greetings from the Socialist Party in Northern Ireland to the CWI and to readers of socialistworld.net
Socialist Party local election candidates standing on 7 May against bigotry, cuts and water charges (taxes), and for Catholic and Protestant workers’ unity:
Paul Dale, Enniskillen (Fermanagh)
Tommy Black, East Belfast
Jim Barbour, South Belfast
Harry Hutchinson, Cookstown (Mid Ulster)
Ireland
Fight low wage slavery
Long live international Solidarity! May Day greetings from the Turkish strikers at GAMA and the Socialist Party in Ireland.
GAMA management is attempting to sack its employees and starve us out of our accommodation – please keep up the pressure.
Your continued support is much needed. Letters/donations to Joe Higgins TD, Dail Eireann, Dublin 2. Ph 0035316163038
Nigeria
Build socialist policies to as an alternative to exploitative capitalism
The Democratic Socialist Movement in Nigeria sends socialist greetings to CWI members and all workers and youth around the world struggling against capitalism and imperialism.
The past year has witnessed sharp changes in Nigeria with large parts of the working people deeply disappointed with the last minute calling off of last November’s planned general strike and the subsequent failure of the majority of the labour leaders to offer any resistance to the country’s continuing decline, notwithstanding the recent surge in oil revenue.
One of the tasks the DSM has set itself in the coming year is to help build a socialist platform within the trade unions that can practically show a way out of the morass of capitalism.
The DSM thanks all those internationally who have given solidarity and help to its activity and the struggles of Nigerian workers and youth.
The May Day edition of Socialist democracy can be read on the DSM website www.socialistnigeria.org (new window).
Democratic Socialists Movement
Pakistan
Down with the IMF and World Bank!
Neo-liberalism and imperialist exploitation drives our families to the edge of starvation and in some cases suicide because of the horror of capitalism.
But workers are fighting back – for the right to join a trade union; against the privatisation of the public sector; and against the vicious anti-Labour laws. The Socialist Movement Pakistan is increasingly playing an important role in these struggles.
We are inspired by the struggle of the GAMA workers in Ireland and call on socialists and trade unionists to give their full backing to this struggle
Socialist Movement Pakistan salutes all the members of CWI fighting for workers rights and for Socialism.
Down with Imperialism!
Long Live Workers Internationalism!
Socialist Movement Pakistan
Sweden
Unite against racism from the state and the bosses.
In mid-April, the majority of MPs in the Swedish riksdag (parliament) denied amnesty for 150-200 refugee children and their families.
These children are called "apathic", i.e they are in a coma and survive only through artificial feeding. But the MPs from Social Democracy and the ‘Moderates’ (conservatives) were following the decision of both the European Union and Sweden: refugees should be kept out.
This year alone, 30 children in this condition have been deported from Sweden. This is the major campaign issue for Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna (CWI Sweden) at the moment. We have organised lobbies against the Prime Minister, Göran Persson, it two cities he visited. On a demo with Iranian refugees outside parliament, Arne Johansson from RS got the best response of all party speakers. On May Day the rights of these children and all refugees is our theme. On 7 May, demos will be organised in several different cities by a network Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna (CWI Sweden) is involved in. Solidarity, the need for common struggles of workers and a socialist perspective is important also for another, linked, reason.
At Volvo’s car factory in Gothenburg, temporary workers from Slovakia, employed by a German company, are receiving wages less than 10 per cent of the Swedish workers. We are demanding that all workers should have union agreed wages and conditions, regardless of what country they are from. In a similar case a couple of years ago, RS assisted Pakistani workers in a victorious struggle to achieve union conditions.
- Stop the exploitation of low paid foreign workers – union rights
- and equal pay for all workers
- Defend the right to asylum
- Unite against racism from state, employers and media
- Workers of the world, unite
May Day Greetings from Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna (CWI Sweden)
Sri Lanka
No to communalism!
Yes to workers’ Unity
All over the world working class, poor peasants and other poor people are celebrating May 1st as a symbolic day against the capitalist system.
In Sri Lanka, we have a special reason to redouble our efforts in the struggle for a socialist alternative. The horrific tsunami has revealed all that is rotten about capitalism and all that is good about the solidarity of working people world-wide.
We wish to express our deep appreciation for the tremendous generosity shown by members and supporters of the Committee for a Workers’ International in their response to our disaster appeal. We are fully involved in a campaign to get justice for all tsunami victims without discrimination and to expose the government’s total incapacity to overcome the huge human tragedy.
In Sri Lanka the traditional left political parties have given up the fight against the capitalist system and they have become regular partners of the capitalist parties. 40 years of class collaboration politics of the old left parties since 1964 has weakened the working class movement. In this situation communal forces are campaigning against the rights of the Tamil-speaking people of Sri Lanka and derail the united class action against capitalist globalisation.
The United Socialist Party in Sri Lanka is joining all the forces on this May Day who are fighting against capitalism, communalism, war, poverty and oppression and to build the socialist world.
United Socialist Party, Sri Lanka.
England and Wales
Forward to world socialism!
The Socialist Party (England and Wales) sends May Day socialist greetings to the Committee for a Workers International and to workers across the world.
We are presently standing socialist candidates in the UK general election which is taking place on 5th May 2005. The three main capitalist parties (New Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats) are all presenting a future of privatisation, cuts and reduced living standards to British workers. We are making sure that a socialist alternative is being put forward in the constituencies where we are standing candidates, and also as much as we can in all the sixty cities and towns in England and Wales in which we have members.
Forward to world socialism!
Socialist Party, England and Wales
Brazil
For a Socialist Federation of Latin America!
Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay… The rejection of the misery brought by neoliberalism in Latin America is continent wide.
Ecuador is just the latest example of the strength in the movement of working class people who have driven out the sitting president because of his neoliberal policies- for the third time in the country since 1997. The same thing happened in Argentina year 2001 and Bolivia in 2003. The working people and poor in Venezuela have also shown their willingness to fight against the reactionary forces that have tried to topple Chavez.
The rejection of neoliberalism has also been shown in the ballot box in Venezuela, Uruguay and also Brazil – but what is needed most of all is that the working class has its own party, and a political program that can replace the exploitation and oppression of capitalism. Without our own alternative we will only get new versions and representatives of the ruling class. That is why Socialismo Revolucionário takes part in the building of P-SOL- Party for Socialism and Liberty. There is a need to build a strong socialist movement in Brazil and the rest of the continent. P-SOL works to unite the struggle against Lula’s neoliberal policies, like the counter reforms on university and trade union rights, and defends a socialist program that can end the horrors of capitalism.
- Fight neo-liberalism!
- For mass socialist workers parties!
- For a Socialist Federation of Latin America!
Socialismo Revolucionário (CWI Brasil) – building P-SOL
Australia
Howard government moves onto the attack
The Socialist Party (cwi Australia) sends May Day greetings to all the readers of socialistworld.net
May Day in Australia will be celebrated against the backdrop of the right wing Howard government moving to implement a range of anti-worker laws into the parliament in the second half of the year.
Changes to industrial relations law, increased costs for health and education, massive levels of household debt and increases in the price of petrol are not only part of day to day life in Australia, but are also common problems weighing down on workers and poor people right across the world.
The Socialist Party will continue to challenge the establishment parties that support the policies that lead to these hardships. We will also continue to challenge the profit driven capitalist system and put forward the socialist alternative
We will do this by campaigning not only through our councillor on Yarra City Council (Melbourne), in our unions, in our communities and on the streets but most importantly by continuing to build the Socialist Party in Australia and the CWI internationally.
We urge all workers and youth to join us in the struggle
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