May Day greetings

Issue 

The following greetings were received by the Democratic Socialist Party to be read out to the M1 rallies across Australia. They have been slightly abridged.

Socialist Workers Party, Britain

We would like to extend May Day greetings to you from the Socialist Workers Party in Britain. We drew inspiration from the successful S11 protests in Melbourne, as we have from the protests against the ruling class's neo-liberal new world order from Seattle to Quebec.

Like you, we believe that Seattle represented a decisive shift. The developing anti-capitalist movement is creating a new left globally. Socialists have to throw themselves into these new movements and not stand outside.

Here in Britain, we too face a massive police attempt to criminalise the May Day protests focused on the symbols of the global capitalist order here in London. Interestingly, this has led to a reaction among those who are determined to defend our right to protest.

The Socialist Alliance will be contesting more than 80 seats in England and Wales in the forthcoming general election. The Scottish Socialist Party hopes to contest every seat in Scotland. We have drawn inspiration from the formation of the Socialist Alliance in Australia and were proud to hear a comrade from the alliance address a 1200-strong Socialist Alliance rally in London.

In Genoa in July, more than 100,000 are expected to protest outside the G8 summit. We are helping organise two trains, plus coaches, to ensure British activists are represented in force.

On May 1, we will be standing shoulder to shoulder with you in our common fight. Let us all link arms and march together on the road which began at Seattle.

Chris Bambery, national organiser, Socialist Workers Party.

Lalit, Mauritius

Today, April 29, Lalit held a one-day conference at which we reaffirmed our commitment to the struggle against capitalist globalisation and for socialism. We herewith send our warmest greetings for May Day to all those struggling for a better world in your party and in the working-class movement in Australia.

In particular, we support the daring blockades planned for the stock exchanges around Australia. Your action will draw peoples' attention to the centres of power of present-day capitalist globalisation and to the complete lack of any democracy in these centres.

May you make even more gains from your planned actions than you imagined possible.

Comradely greetings to everyone,

Lindsey Collen, Lalit, Mauritius.

Pioneer, Hong Kong

We are in solidarity with the M1 protests against the stock exchanges in Australia. The globalisation of finance capital has caused unheard-of suffering around the world.

In Hong Kong, the working people are still suffering from the Asian crisis. In China, although the free flow of capital in and out of the country has not yet been implemented the Chinese government is more and more committed to a faster pace of opening up to the transnational corporations.

For many years, China has been the second-largest receiver of foreign investment in the world. TNCs have been taking over hundreds of thousands of Chinese state enterprises. The tyranny of the TNCs must be stopped!

In October, the World Economic Forum will hold its Asian meeting in Hong Kong. We are planning to hold a protest against it. What you are doing on May 1 will be a great encouragement to us here.

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