May Day

Photo: Bill Hackwell, Havana, Plaza of the Revolution

May Day, or International Workers Day, is celebrated with marches and rallies every May 1 to lift up the working people and their demands for freedom, equality, and justice. That is the Red tradition of May Day. But there is also an older Green tradition in which cultures the world over celebrate as Spring arrives in temperate and arctic climates or the wet season arrives in tropical climates. This Green tradition of May Day celebrates all that is free and life-giving on the green Earth that is our commonwealth and heritage. These Red and Green May Day traditions are complementary.

by NoahIt's May 1st everybody! May Day! May Day! May Day, indeed! Over 62,000 souls G-O-N-E. And counting.• One day, it's like a miracle. It will disappear.• By April, it miraculously goes away.• This is their new hoax.• We'll reopen by Easter!• This is a pandemic. I always knew it was.• We have it under control!• I don't take responsibility at all.• I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute. One Minute!• I'm a very stable genius!

The French government has been forced to shamefully admit that they made totally false accusations that May Day Yellow Vest anti-government protesters tried to break into the Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital in order to “attack”, “assault” and “steal”. Countless mainstream media are just as covered in ignominy for having repeated these untrue claims.

Today is May Day – a day for the labor to celebrate, a day to vow for carrying forward its political struggle for emancipation of humanity, a day to reiterate its position on the questions of capital and capital’s political power; and a day to learn from the working people’s history of struggles. This land – Bangladesh – is rich[Read More...]

Labor around the world is facing a hostile situation to the extent and intensity unprecedented in labor’s history. At the same time, labor in the Global South and Global North is theoretically, organizationally and politically unarmed.

May Day is one of the most important days to the exploited people. Michael D. Yates, director of Monthly Review Press and former Associate Editor of Monthly Review magazine, focuses on US labor and its movement in the following interview taken in April 2019 by Farooque Chowdhury. Professor Michael Yates, whose academic fields are labor economics and the relationship between[Read More...]

Lal Bahadur Shastri had given the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ (Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer). This was in recognition of their contribution for national security and food security in the country. The point that was however missed out was the issue of ‘Jai Samman’. Being a part of the working class working towards protecting national territory or providing[Read More...]

California Democrat Assemblyman, Miguel Santiago, introduced a bill proposing to allow schools to replace Washington's Birthday or Lincoln's Birthday with “International Workers’ Day”, better known as “May Day”. This has become universally recognized as an annual holiday to celebrate Communism. Although the bill was rejected (this time), 45% of the legislators present voted for it. [...]

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — Puerto Rico’s capital was the site of massive scenes of brutal repression as police clamped down on an International Workers Day march using overwhelming violent force, scattering thousands of protesters who gathered to resist austerity measures and anti-worker attacks on the people of the U.S colonial territory.