133 Years of May Day: Remembering the Haymarket Martyrs
March Forward with Working Class Struggles For a World Free From Exploitation!
Fight Back and End the Anti-worker, Anti-people Modi Raj!
Join Joint May Day Rally
Called by Trade Unions
Assemble at Ramlila Ground, 4.30pm, 1st May
On 1 May Indian workers will join workers around the globe to celebrate the May Day – the international day of the working class.
May Day Legacy: May Day – the international day of the working class – commemorates the legacy of the martyrs of Haymarket, Chicago who were sentenced to death in 1886 for their role in struggling for the 8-hour day and other workers’ rights. The 8 Haymarket leaders too were arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to death on fake charges of murder for having led a struggle for the 8-hour day. But they used the trial as a platform to expose the entire capitalist system – and their words inspire the working class movement worldwide today. August Spies, one of the 8 Haymarket leaders, announced in open court:
“… if you think that by hanging us, you can stamp out the labour movement-the movement from which the downtrodden millions, the millions who toil and live in want and misery-the wage slaves-expect salvation-if this is your opinion, then hang us! Here you will tread upon a spark, but there, and there, and behind you and in front of you, and everywhere, flames will blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out. The ground upon which you stand is on fire…”
The fights of the working class and their blood spilt in the course of those struggles in the past 130 years since the Haymarket martyrs achieved many rights for the working class. But on the other hand, in the recent times of globalization, the systematic violence on workers and consistent scuttling of their rights has also intensified.
Modi Raj: Massive Assaults on Workers’ Rights: The last 5 years of Modi Raj witnessed massive attacks on the working class. BJP Government, in the name of “ease of doing business” for Indian and global corporates, is busy diluting and eroding hard-won laws protecting labour rights. Trade union activists were hounded and jailed for the “crime” of fighting for workers’ rights, while we have seen the Government sponsored loot and scoot scheme of Mallya – Choksi – Nirav Modi.
Diluting All Labour Laws: The Modi Govt is desperately trying to dilute and destroy almost all existing labour laws. For example, BJP Govt is dangerously toying with the idea of getting rid of the mandatory obligations of minimum wage and introduces a concept of “Floor Wages” which is almost equivalent to Rs. 4500 – 5000/ month. Further, almost 75 percent of the companies are shockingly going out of the purview of labour laws with an amendment of the condition to seek government permission for retrenchment and closure from 100 to 300 workers.
45 Years High Unemployment Rate: According to the NSSO data, unemployment rate in India is 45 years high at 6.1%, youth unemployment is astronomically high – as 17.4% & 13.6% for young rural men and women, and 18.7% & 27.2% respectively for young urban men and women.
Mass Retrenchment: With growing unemployment, we have seen the horrors of mass retrenchment. Only in the year 2017, India’s IT industry laid off more than 56000 employees.
No Minimum Wages: Shamefully, 82% men and 92% women in our country are earning less than Rs. 10000 per month.
Denial of Minimum Wages, Denial to Acknowledge Labour: The Government continuously has been refusing to recognize lakhs of Anganwadi, Mid-day meal, ASHA, Para-teachers and others as “workers”. They have been denied even their right of statutory minimum wages. A detailed report on the Mid-day meal workers in Bihar shows that they earn Rs. 37/ day.
Killing Workers – from Sewers to Factories: While Modi does the drama of washing the feet of sanitation workers, we see one manual scavenging death every five days in “Swachh Bharat”! The factories have turned into killing fields because of shameless Government apathy. In the month of December last year, 15 workers were trapped in a coal mine in Meghalaya. Till date, the even bodies of the workers are not recovered.
We are in the middle of an election which will decide the future of India, the future of people of the country and the future of working class. To draw attention away from the systematic assaults on the working class and people of the country, BJP – RSS machinery is desperately inciting communal hatred and violence. They are seeking to divide India’s working class on communal lines, and ensure that the working class cannot unite against the attacks on labour rights and democracy. May Day is an occasion for the working class to reaffirm its resolve to resist such hate-mongering and communal violence, and rally to defend democratic rights and equality, not only of workers themselves at the workplace, but of every section of vulnerable citizens – including minorities, Dalits and other oppressed castes, and women. We must fight back, defeat and end the anti-people, anti-worker Modi Raj.
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