Long live first of May – international workers’ day
 

First of May is the day of solidarity of the working class and the international solidarity of the working class. It is a day of celebration of a class that from China to America, from Russia to Japan, Germany and Britain, from Iran, Iraq and Turkey to Egypt, Syria and Lebanon…is slave to the rule of capital. A class that creates all the necessities of today's world, and after the Paris commune, Russian worker's revolution and thousands of sacrifices and protests against the rule of capital, is still slave to wages. First of May is the day of this class as a world class, an indictment against the status quo. It is the day that workers across the world declare their common destiny and common interest and the necessity for their unity with the slogan of “Workers of the world unite!”

First of May doesn’t belong to any nation, race, stratum or class in the society; It’s not a religious day belonging to Muslims, Christians, Jews or any other religious sects. It’s not the day of unity of nations, the day of the Green movement, the reformists or the supporters of this or that group seeking bourgeoisie democracy. The working class day stands out in distinction to all of them.  On this day, workers across the world gather hand in hand to declare that this class is different to the rest, and is one class with one interest. It is the consciousness of the working class of its own existence, of sharing the same destiny, of its common world interest and its distinction from all others, that is an important part of self-consciousness of this class and a prerequisite for its unity in order to break the chains that capital has placed on this class under such titles as nation, nationality, religion, culture and history.

Throughout its rule, bourgeoisie has tried with all its might to blur the independent interest of the working class, the necessity of this class's independence, its common international destiny, and its conflicting interest with that of bourgeoisie. Bourgeoisie tries to show that the united and mighty force of this class to overthrow the existing world order is an impossibility only to present the rule of capital and system of wage labour as eternal. Indeed, this is the strongest weapon in preserving the rule of capital across the world.

In Iran, the Islamic Republic like every other bourgeoisie government in the world tries to divide our class forces by branding workers as Iranian and foreign, male and female, contractual and non-contractual, employed and unemployed, Turk, Kurd, Arab or Persian, Shia and Sunni, etc. The bourgeoisie calls on workers to join ranks for achievement of the society’s “common interests”, for the defence of "national capital" and domestic production, and for the good of the country. Such pretexts are only to wrap the bourgeoisie’s pursuit of more profit in Iran – a matter that is achievable only through imposition of greater deprivation upon workers. At the same time they try to wipe out any horizon of workers’ solidarity and equality, workers’ rule and our ability to break the rule of capital and thus free the human race. It is only through such a scenario that capital is able to continue its rule and enslave our class. This is their main material for silencing and dividing our class.

The criticisms of the official Worker’s House, the Islamic councils and the variety of official trade syndicates regarding the conditions of the working class in Iran, are all nothing but deceptive compassion for workers in Iran; crocodile tears that are shed in order to enforce further control on working class and divert class protests to safeguard the framework of capital's interest. Such organisations and their so called “worker's week” and first of May commemorations are all an inseparable part of the annual ranting of the Islamic Republic's leaders against our ranks. In addition to these on the eve of the presidential election, every faction of the Islamic Republic is trying to use the occasion of first of May as a means of more propaganda for the elections.

Barricading against such a rank and their entire anti- worker propaganda is a task that rest foremost on the shoulders of the communists of the working class. Setting the socialist horizon and struggle for growth in unity, struggle for raising the consciousness of the workers’ ranks and reinforcement of workers camaraderie are all only possible through the unity of worker's leaders and conscious activists of this class as a force that cements and unites the internal ranks of the working class.

First of May is an opportunity for communist workers to raise alongside the banner of the indictment of the working class against the entire capital, the most major demands of the working class in Iran, and unite the whole working class behind them. First of May is an opportunity for workers at every work place, in every workers' gathering and commemoration ceremonies, at every district and locality, to stand against the insult of setting this year’s national monthly wage level of 400,000 Toman (about US$110) – an opportunity to express workers’ refusal to accept such an open attack of capital on the working class and imposition of absolute poverty.

Comrades!

The working class in Iran is one of the strong battalion of the working class across the world. Everyone is aware of the scale of power of the proletariat in Iran. The working class in Iran will take a major step forward and advances if the communist workers unite and form an unbreakable chain of links (from oil industry, to steel works, from petrochemical to the car and mining industries), if they lay the agenda and horizon of equality and socialism to the working class, and raise the most major demands of the working class across the country, (namely refusal of the set wage levels, demand for the right to organise and strike, unemployment benefit... ) as their immediate demands. It is thus that the working class in Iran will take a big step in forcing capital to retreat, maintain workers’ unity, and the workers and socialist movement advance closer towards the workers’ revolution. If the industrial proletariat of Iran moves, if it declares its indictment against its slavery, then all heads turn toward the working class as the most resolute leaders of workers revolution! Optimism will revive! All anti worker propaganda machine of the media that is set to engineer thoughts in Iran and in the heart of Europe, their announcements and claims of denigration of the workers’ rule and end of communism and equality, end of socialism … will be silenced.  And once more the drums of the workers’ revolution will beat – and this time more powerful than the Paris commune and October revolution. This is clearly possible, and this is a step that communist workers must take. First of May is an occasion for such unity and such a development.

Worker-communist Party of Iran´- Hekmatist

hekmatist.com

8 April 2013