The march to celebrate this year’s International Workers Day was well attended, with many workers joining the march to support a variety of organizations (trade unions, left parties, workers’ centers, environmentalist  and community organizations to defend human rights, and feminists groups, amongst many others). Workers expressed their opposition to racism, sexism, forced displacement, and the devastating impact of the capitalist system. It was common to see here the general support for Palestine and against the ongoing genocide, which is now a central axis of the class struggle and the current global political debates, in the context of the new multi-polar reality.

With this in mind, on this great day, we celebrated one more year of struggle, with our sights set on the unity of the international working class under the banners and leadership of our communist party, Progressive Labor Party (PLP). We denounced the parasitic capitalist class domination and its racist wage system, its endless wars, its sexism that divides us and weakens us, and its fascism and increased violence against our class. We celebrated one more year of struggle, protests, work stoppages, blockades, and mobilizations that sustain our commitment to our communist ideal, as the only way to build a better world.

PLP, as a revolutionary necessity, was an early presence at the meeting place in downtown Bogota, talking to workers, defending our line, and exchanging information to plan later meetings. We distributed our paper, CHALLENGE, and 2,000 flyers, calling for a communist revolution and class solidarity with our Palestinian and Haitian sisters and brothers, who are facing bloody and systematic imperialist genocide and repression. 

Our militant contingent marched behind a large sign featuring our newspaper. We were a dynamic and enthusiastic group of workers and students, members and friends of the Party. The whole event took place in the context of the current support for President Gustavo Petro’s reforms, which responds to a previous march called last April by right-wing followers of former president Alvaro Uribe. President Petro, in a populist and opportunistic fashion, gave a speech at Bolivar Plaza, proclaiming himself the heart of the march and all participants allies to his government.

In spite of that, PLP raising the communist red flag and chanting our slogans generated sympathy and was well-received by participants and people passing by, including men and women from a variety of ages who joined us to add around a hundred new enthusiastic participants to our group, notably many women and young people, who seemed attracted to our anti-sexist position and slogans.

Our daily work has been focused on advancing class struggles, learning from our practice to struggle against capitalists collectively, understanding that the struggle for reforms is insufficient, given the huge needs of our international working class. For that reason, our slogans had strong resonance, including, “No more reformism, long live communism!”, “Peace between social classes serves criminal bosses!” “Israel, racist and fascist murderer, smash capitalism! “Counterattacks in Gaza, Haiti, Ukraine or Venezuela, Workers’ communist revolution!” “Long live International Communist May Day!” These slogans, as well as thirty others, outlining PLP’s revolutionary line, were cheerfully and militantly chanted by our friends and onlookers, who requested printed copies to chant along.

We reached Bolivar Plaza, where the president took the stage to give his speech defending liberal reforms, silencing revolutionary voices, which was traditionally done by the sell-out trade unions. Generally, and in spite of the cynical will of this “government of change” to co-opt the march, there was a feeling of an overall rejection of the capitalists’ onslaught, which nevertheless, would be an opportunity for the reformists, democrathieves, and opportunists to continue providing cover for this corrupt capitalist system. Our task is to steadily work with those workers sympathetic to our line, and hundreds more, discussing and elaborating strategies based on our political understanding, forged by PLP, to smash the bosses’ dictatorship, growing in quantity and quality, and looking to turn these peaceful marches into militant struggles guided by communist ideas and practices.

HAITI, May 12—Comrades and friends of Progressive Labor Party here participated in our annual May Day celebration on May 1. The main activity was a forum and discussion about the nature of work under capitalism, especially for young workers. That was followed by some cultural activity and socializing, with revolutionary poetry, class-conscious music, and dinner. All told, about 60 people tasted real camaraderie that day.

To set the tone of our day, we began with a history of May Day and its importance to the international working class. The presenter, a young woman comrade, gave a short history of May Day, born in the struggle for the 8-hour work day in the United States. Next was the forum on the nature of work under the current system, moderated by two other young comrades. Several workers with different work experiences (teachers, health workers, clerical workers, rural workers, and unemployed workers) spoke about their jobs or joblessness, and how the rulers exploited them by paying low wages, working under miserable working conditions, or keeping them from working for a salary at all through the massive unemployment faced by Haitian workers. 

Then our young woman comrade took the podium again to provide a communist analysis of what these young workers had just told us. She said that the capitalist system exploits workers and keeps them in inhuman conditions. She compared that to a communist system, in which the working class is in power and rules in its interest, concerned with the well-being of all workers so that they can live up to their full potential as a class. She said that these two systems are antagonistic; in the end, the working class, through the communist revolution, will assume power and destroy the bourgeoisie and its private property and borders between countries, and all the misery, racism, sexism, and wars for profit that keep capitalism afloat.

After her conclusion, we moved on to the cultural/social part of the day. Two comrades gave a spirited reading of the poem “Good Morning, Revolution” written by Black communist poet Langston Hughes from the U.S. and translated into Haitian Creole, the language spoken by the masses in Haiti. Another example of international solidarity.

At this point, the floor was opened to the attendees. Many people, students, and workers, spoke out about how this program helped them understand the true meaning of May Day for our class. They felt now they had the knowledge and language to criticize the Haitian bosses’ idea of May 1 as a celebration of agriculture and work (with lavish displays of food products for the local bourgeoisie) rather than the holiday of the struggle of the international working class.

The musical group performed songs of struggle, which animated the audience, who sang along with gusto. The final activity was dinner, which was enjoyed by all. 

We would like to thank all of those who gave leadership in organizing May Day in Haiti and those who participated in the activities. We have already followed up with some of the attendees who participated in the forum, etc. to continue discussing how to fight against the bosses, both local and foreign, especially in light of the extreme crisis the entire working class in Haiti and the gutter gangs,  gangs in uniform, and the gangsters who live in fancy houses. We are discussing how to make our Party grow into a fighting organization of the working class. 
Yes, the fight continues!

San Francisco, Oakland, and Valley collectives of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) held an exciting and inspiring May Day Dinner at the end of April. Close to 50 multi-generational, multiracial, international workers and students gathered at a local art center. This growth from last year shows “the times they are a-changin.”

The walls were decorated with PLP historical, and international art posters about working class struggles from Mexico, Iran, Greece, and El Salvador, to name a few. This was best summarized by a quote and image from Bertolt Brecht: “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.”

Newer and younger members of our collectives planned and led the program. They are shaping the future towards communism. There were lively discussions throughout the program about the history of May Day and our current struggles within the movement against fascism and genocide in Gaza and around the world. We discussed how we are growing our collectives through our involvement in the mass movement. Our comrades from the Valley collective talked about their future as communists and new members of PLP. They brought drums and guitars to accompany rousing renditions of "Power to the Working Class," "Bella Ciao," and of course "The Internationale." Throughout the event we emphasized the necessity of uniting all workers regardless of race, country, or gender into an international party dedicated to the fight for communism. Only a communist revolution can destroy capitalism and create a share and share alike communist world.

This gathering was the culmination of several months of heightened activity. The external, capitalist world we live in is changing qualitatively and we are responding. PLP members of all generations have participated in many struggles. We have agitated with CHALLENGE and leaflets, held personal and social events, collective planning, and study groups. Education workers held an important and successful teach-in with teachers, students and community members about Israel-Palestine and developed study materials. On campuses, we have supported members and other students who came under attack for fighting tuition hikes and fighting U.S. imperialism/genocide with encampments which demand cease fire and divestment. On the job, we tied the genocide and imperialism to the “financial crisis” that public agencies claim justifies severe cuts in services like public transit, in schools, in jobs, in wages and working conditions. In neighborhoods, cultural groups, and families, we have had many discussions of why anti- imperialism and anti-Zionism are not antisemitism. Our emphasis on class, the structures of capitalism, internationalism and no borders is key. In the streets, we joined mass demonstrations, rallies against the war industry, imperialist genocide, Israeli Zionist capitalism and attacks on immigrants. We have connected with other groups, such as Bay Area Labor for Palestine, which organized in collaboration with immigrant groups for job actions on May Day and helped plan May Day Marches.

Following up on the energy of the May Day Dinner, PLP members participated in May Day marches in three areas: San Francisco, Oakland, and the Sacramento Valley. Our poster, “No War But Class War” and the CHALLENGE headline “Smash Genocide in Palestine” was well received. The May Day Marches responded to a call from the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions to stand with Gaza on May Day. In Oakland, the May Day March planned to shut down the port. The strength of on-the-job workers was front & center. Rank and file port workers in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) carried on their tradition of May Day actions resulting in both morning and afternoon shifts stopping port activity. The Port Authority shut the port down in response. This is a small victory for international workers’ unity. We must continue to bring our communist analysis and organize for the final victory, a communist revolution!

On the occasion of International Workers' Day, Pakistan reverberates with the echoes of solidarity with the international working class as we celebrate May Day 2024. In cities and towns across Pakistan, large rallies and parades mark the occasion.This annual celebration serves as a reminder of the hard-fought battles for labor rights and to honor workers’ struggles against the bosses for wage increases and on the job benefits enjoyed today, victories slowly being eroded.

Workers from various sectors, including factories, agriculture, construction, and services gathered to raise their voices for better working conditions, fair wages, and labor rights. Banners and placards carried slogans demanding justice, equality, and respect for the dignity of labor. Some people were also chanting slogans against the Israeli genocidal attacks on Gaza as well.
Comrades in the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) brought workers and students to the rallies, explaining to them how we can get freedom from exploitation through communist revolution.

Workers’ power

We must rethink the old-fashioned lines towed by different leftist organizations because as the past shows, socialism carries the essence of capitalism, like wages. We explained that without a correct line we cannot get out of the clutches of barbaric fascist rulers.
We explained the current drive of the government of Pakistan to privatize all big public enterprises to the local and international bosses. Privatization has always led to job insecurity, decreased wages, and weakened labor rights. As state-owned enterprises are sold to private entities, companies often undergo restructuring to cut costs, leading to layoffs and downsizing. This is a clearly racist attack against Brown workers who make up the country’s majority.

Racist and Sexist attacks on workers

Our comrades explained that as now we have very limited labor rights ,and those rights will be eroded further under privatization. Private companies will certainly exploit loopholes in labor laws or engage in anti-union practices to suppress workers' rights to organize and negotiate for better working conditions. This lack of protection will surely leave workers more vulnerable to super-exploitation and abuse. These attacks show reforms can never be a substitute for revolution.
While analyzing the working class’s economic conditions, we described the tactics used by bosses to divide working-class people to keep intact this horrible, exploitative capitalist system. We stressed the need to fight for  protection of workers' rights, and against the sexist disparity of wages based on gender. Daily-wage laborers in construction, agriculture and domestic workers in Pakistan face especially tough conditions under capitalism.These workers usually have no job security, they are least paid and do not have any benefits like health insurance or paid leave. They are used to working long hours in unsafe conditions just to meet some of their needs.
Fighting for a future without exploitation
Under capitalism, the focus is on making profits, so these workers are often treated as disposable resources rather than human beings with rights. The capitalist system prioritizes the interests of business owners and investors over the well-being of workers. 
May Day in Pakistan is not just a day off work; it's a day of power, solidarity, and fightback. It honors the sacrifices of those who came before and inspires hope for a future where every worker is treated equally. Only an international communist revolution under the red banners of PLP can give workers the lives they deserve. Long live communism, long live PLP.