MAYDAY is International workers day, born out of the struggle for an 8 hour day in 1886. Over 100 years later our lives are still taken up by the world of work.
Even more so now, as the work imposed by Capitalism has become more casualised forcing us to adapt to the point where it's hard to tell when, where or even if we are working.
This leaves us in a situation where our lives are always on hold, on call and at the mercy of the market. May 1st this year falls on a bank holiday, yet for many it will be just another day at work. Our leisure time too is filled with anxieties.
The anxiety of not being able to have enough money to pay the rent, go to the cinema, a nice restaurant, shop for food, clothes, anything! In reality our work never finishes and when we're not at work we still end up making some other person even richer.
Even looking forward to a nice retirement is set to become a thing of the past, with us soon to be working ‘till we drop and a pensions’ crisis leaving many of us in fear of an old age of poverty.
This Mayday we call for freedom of movement across borders for everyone and the right to stay and work in the country of their choosing, with access to all the benefits and freedoms available to that population. We reject an immigration system which allows the movement of goods but not people, of the rich but not the poor; which forces migrants, refugees and asylum seekers into a choice between destitution and illegal, often dangerous work.
May Day is important not only for its historical significance, but also as a time to organize and speak out around issues that are impacting working-class people today.
With Best Greetings,
Amma-Naana
