may day

Fred Moore spent his life fighting for the underprivileged. He was proud that unions played an important role in pushing for rights for First Nations peoples, was concerned about women's rights and was an internationalist. Robynne Murphy bids him farewell.

Sydney’s May Day march highlighted the green ban imposed by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union on the demolition of a heritage-listed building in Parramatta. Pip Hinman reports.

Essential workers in the United States, who have been serving the general public during the COVID-19 shutdown, held a mass strike on May Day to demand hazard pay and better health and safety conditions, writes Barry Sheppard.

About 100 vehicles joined a car convoy in Sydney on May 1 to mark May Day, the international day of workers’ solidarity, reports Jim McIlroy.

The international day of workers’ struggle, May 1, is going ahead in Sydney with a safe union-led car cavalcade, writes Jim McIlroy.

As the gap between rich and poor widens, millions of workers around the world marched for workers’ rights on May Day.

Thousands of construction workers walked off the job and marched through Sydney on May 1.

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 “The workers united will never be defeated” and “What do we want? The right to strike.”

McDonald’s workers in Britain called for a “McStrike” on May Day to demand three simple things: a £10 an hour minimum wage, the end of zero-hours contracts and the right to unionise, TeleSUR English said.

Demonstrations to mark May Day — International Workers’ Day, commemorated globally on May 1 — 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. 

 

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’ associations were formed in the Hunter, trade unionists and their families have put their demands forward on occasions such as May Day.

The United States was the scene of three large national mass mobilisations from April 22 to May 1 challenging President Donald Trump’s agenda.  

Green Left 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’s 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, CISPES.org said on May 4.
People around the world took to the streets on May 1 to mark May Day, the international workers' day. The day started in the United States in the late 1800s, when unions first called for an eight hour work day, but countries throughout the world soon followed suit in demands for better working conditions.
Thousands of Venezuelans took part in May Day rallies on May 1 to mark the international workers' day and commemorate the achievements of the country's pro-poor Bolivarian revolution. Speaking to May Day celebrations in Caracas, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said: “Now is time for workers to lead the economic policy of the country.”

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