May Day is our day. It is International Workers
Day. It is a day that is all about us, working and oppressed people, and our
fight for a better life. The wealthy, the powerful billionaire class that rules
this country, wallow in luxury 365 days a year. On May Day, we say,
"Enough!" We are tired of being held down, pushed around and sold
out. We cannot accept things the way they are.
In every region of the globe, from the streets
of Europe to the countryside of Latin America, from the Philippines to Palestine
and in the U.S. ,
working people will come together on May 1. We urge everyone to help organize
and participate in the many events marking May Day across the country.
The origins of May Day are in the class struggle
right here in the U.S.
In 1886, a powerful fight for the eight-hour day arose. A call was issued for a
general strike, and in Chicago
many responded. On May 4 a clash took place at Haymarket Square . This was used as a
pretext to hang four revolutionary labor leaders. In subsequent years, the
tradition of workers standing up on May Day to advance our cause was born.
During the Cold War, the ruling class attacked
everything progressive - and they went so far as to rename May Day 'Law Day.'
But you can't keep a good thing down. In 2006, a great upsurge, the
mega-marches for immigrant rights, revived May Day.
Over the past year there has been a real upsurge
in the people's struggle and in the year ahead everything possible should be
done to add fuel to the fire. On April 18, thousands marched on the Supreme
Court in Washington D.C. in support of Deferred Action - a
measure that provides relief from deportation for millions of undocumented
people. In the coming year, the struggle to obtain legalization for all will be
one of the key battles.
In cities across the U.S. , particularly in African
American communities, hundreds of thousands have marched and participated in
militant protests against the epidemic of police killings and violence. There
is no doubt that this storm of struggle will grow in intensity and that more
will follow the example of Chicago
in fighting for community control of the police.
This country is one big prison house for the
oppressed. The African American, Chicano and Hawaiian nations are held in
chains. Racist discrimination, along with national oppression is visited upon
all oppressed nationalities, including Latinos, Native Americans, Asians and
Pacific Islanders. Oppressed nations need liberation and self-determination and
all oppressed peoples need full equality.
Workers are on the move. The fight of the 40,000
Verizon workers on the east coast is a testament to this. Another example for
the entire labor movement is the courage and determination displayed by the
Chicago Teachers Union. Then there is the heroic Kohler strike in Sheboygan to defeat the two-tier wage system - it shines
like a Wisconsin lighthouse, in a state with massive
battles against anti-union 'right to work' laws. In an unequal fight, the
working class of Wisconsin
has time and again resisted anti-labor legislation and, in those battles, a
militant organization of the trade unionists has been born - the United Workers
Organization.
The capitalist system is an evil system. At its
core is exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few. The political
representatives of the wealthy such as Trump or Clinton have nothing to offer us but more of
the same. Trump, a right-wing populist, is an open advocate of racism and
reaction. The Chicago
students who shut down his campaign event did the right thing. Trump should be
confronted and shutdown where ever he goes.
Over the last five years the FBI and so-called
Justice Department have lashed out at anti-war and international solidarity
activists. They tried to imprison veteran Chicano leader Carlos Montes on the
flimsiest of pretexts. Now they are going after longtime Palestinian leader
Rasmea Odeh. We must stand with her and anyone else facing political
repression.
The capitalist system, and those who stand at
its apex, give working people a million reasons to hate it. We look around this
country - at dangerous clowns like Trump, unemployment, crummy jobs and endless
wars and know that we can do better than this. Capitalism is a failed system.
It can and will be abolished and replaced with socialism - the system where the
political and economic power of the country is in the hands of working people.
Long Live May Day! Long
Live International Workers Day!
Pix
from Otto's
War Room.
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