On the occasion of May Day

Workers! Comrades!

 More than 130 years has passed since the very first announcement of May Day as the day of solidarity of workers around the world. This year we approach the May Day celebrations at a time when we witness more clearly the wide-scale misery, hardship, war and destitution the capitalist system has enforced throughout the world.

 It is so shameful of this system of wage-labour that despite the unprecedented levels of production, hunger and starvation is still rife. Millions of our children are robbed of their very childhood and child labour is still a reality. Lack of the most basic hygiene, even clean water, is still a major cause of death of millions in many parts of the world. Despite the great strides in technology and the production of all the riches, homelessness, poor health, lack of welfare, etc are still issues that people have to struggle with routinely in all parts of the world. Ironically, after all these years, still an eight-hour working day is still a demand of working people in many countries, and the capitalist states are continuously trying to abolish it in countries where it is legally recognised.

 This year’s May Day is yet another occasion for us to stand together and proclaim that enough is enough. This is our day to show our solidarity across the globe and to celebrate our common goal against this system of wage labour. This is our day, when we celebrate our unity in struggle to rid ourselves from the chains of capital. This is the day that we reject all the divisions of gender, race, age, birth place, etc that the capitalists have enforced upon us and stand united in our call for a better world.

Comrades!
In Iran too, the bourgeoisie and its Islamic Republic want us to respect the rule of capital, its craze for profit, and bow to its wage-labour; they want us to be satisfied with the all the miseries of this system. But this year we celebrate May Day in Iran, in a totally different atmosphere compared to previous years. There has been a definite change in the balance of power, following the mass protests that took place in the end of December and early January against the Islamic Republic.  The extent and clarity of the protests were such that they completely wiped out all the populist rhetoric of the authorities, and now they openly admit that they have heard the sound of the knolls of their downfall.

 Comrades, on this May Day we bring you the message of solidarity from the workers in Iran, that today is our day. It is an occasion to once again reaffirm our pledge that enough is enough; that it is time to overthrow all the divisions that the capitalists are forcing upon us. It is our day of solidarity, our day to express that we are united as a class and together we have a world to win.

 Long live international solidarity!

Long live workers’ rule!

May Day, 2018

The Abroad Organisation of the Worker-communist Party of Iran – Hekmatist (official line)