May Day this year, held on May 6 in Sydney, was the strongest, most powerful and largest May Day I have marched in for years.
I joined with dozens of union contingents comprising thousands of workers in Sydney, chanting 鈥淭he workers united will never be defeated鈥 and 鈥淲hat do we want? The right to strike.鈥
McDonald鈥檚 workers in Britain called for a 鈥淢cStrike鈥 on May Day to demand three simple things: a听拢10 an听hour minimum wage, the end of zero-hours contracts and the right to unionise, 听said.
Demonstrations to mark May Day 鈥 International Workers鈥 Day, commemorated globally on May 1 鈥 took place in cities around the world, as workers protested for their rights and celebrated their gains.
Across France, about 150,000 people took part in labour marches, according to government estimates, up slightly on 2017.听
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I happily admit that I will take any opportunity to parade down the street waving a red flag, and the May Day march in Hamilton on Sunday will be one of those opportunities.
Since the 1850s, when the first workers鈥 associations were formed in the Hunter, trade unionists and their families have put their demands forward on occasions such as May Day.
State vice president of the CFMEU鈥檚 Victorian Construction and General Division Robert Graauwmans gave this speech at Socialist Alliance鈥檚 May Day Dinner in Geelong on May 6. Below is an edited version of his speech.
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I鈥檝e been asked to speak on the topic of 鈥淲hy we should break bad laws鈥 and while I welcome the invitation and the topic, tonight I will not talk about the whether we need to break bad laws, but rather, why we must defy injustice.
Unionists and their supporters defied a police ban on this year鈥檚 traditional May Day march with a militant march and rally of some 500 unionists and their supporters through the city鈥檚 streets on May 6.
An obstructive Wollongong City Council had blocked police approval and demanded a hefty fee for private security services.
South Coast working class icon and veteran class fighter, 95-year-old Fred Moore, proudly marched at the front. He has never missed a May Day march since his first in 1932.
The United States was the scene of three large national mass mobilisations from April 22 to May 1 challenging President Donald Trump鈥檚 agenda.听听
91自拍论坛 Weekly interviewed Ted McAlear, former Secretary of the Waterside Workers Federation (Illawarra), on April 26.
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May 1 is a significant day for Ted McAlear. Ted, now 88 years of age, was a former member of the Mine Workers Union and later secretary of the Waterside Workers Federation in Port Kembla. (The WWF merged with the Seaman鈥檚 Union of Australia in 1993 to become the Maritime Union of Australia.)
Photo: CISPES.org.
Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of San Salvador on May 1 to celebrate May Day and the victories of the working class. Marchers raised demands for justice, equality and self-determination, .
