Historical event of 1st May and its celebration worldwide

The origin of the May Day is indissolubly bound up with the struggle for the shorter working hours. Perhaps it is the first manifestation of the working class movement which culminated in so many other struggles that had given birth to the concept of socialism.

1^st May, 1886 is a red letter day in the history of the working class. The blood bath at Haymarket Square, Chicago demanding not more than 8 hours work in a day caused the brutal attack of the police upon a meeting of the striking workers killed 10 workers and left several workers wounded on the spot  causing imprisonment of the other militant leaders. Parsons, Spice, Fischer and Engel were sent to the gallows. The first remarkable, emerging unrest, a symbol and a signal of united action of the working class as a whole, thus created a beckon light in different parts of the global world.

Almost since 1889 the May Day is being celebrated in different parts of the world including Russia, France, Vietnam etc.

Another distortion of the glorified history of the working class  was noticed when Adolf Hitler in Germany declared on 1^st May, 1933- as May Day the national holiday and told before one lakh of workers that “ honor the working class,  Pay respect to them” and promised to honor the workers, saying that May Day would be celebrated century after century in Germany . These were all to deceive the working class when we find that from the 2^nd day of 1993 mass genocide of the working class occurred. Trade union offices were tossed and torched, unions funds were forfeited by the Hitler’s Germany and ultimately all the unions were dismantled.

All such nefarious activities and the brutalities in Germany in 1933 and thereafter, in other parts of the world, could not suppress the voice of the working class. We are still alive and the struggle for existence is although severe, yet could not curb severity of our struggle. The imperialist globalization is in full swing engulfing our rights. The agenda of the campaign is to shift the brunt of taxation from business class, corporate class and the affluent section of the people to the working people and thus, from capital to wages. It has dismantled the environmental and work place regulations to satisfy the irritated business class. Another agenda is,  the reduction of workers’ powers by weakening the unions, violating the regulatory protection of workers, largely through non enforcement and roll back income support programs so as to drive more people into the labor force and to scramble for work, and also to keep them anxious and vulnerable about jobs.

Wage cuts and social benefit cuts obviously driving more people to seek work often as par timers or temporary staff. Assault on pensions compelling the number of workers to work, the social benefits are being slashed, families are being squeezed between stagnant wages and rising costs resorted increasingly to borrowing and record numbers of people are being driven into bankruptcy.

In the midst of all these adversities, let it be the solemn pledge of ours on the occasion of the May Day to regain the lost pension right , to strive for better health facilities, periodical wage revision, DA merger, to achieve status to the GDS and proper wages for casual labors etc. Let us mobilize ourselves for a greater form of struggle in the days to come.

Let us take oath on this day of 1st May, 2014 to stay united and strongly face the anti working class policies in future, with all of our strength and courage.