IUF statement by Kristjan Bragason, IUF Acting General Secretary
Looking around the world it could seem that we have little to celebrate on this May Day. Wars in many countries including Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan, Haiti, Gaza; the growing influence of the far right and authoritarian forces in many countries; an administration in the United States that is obliterating rights that the trade union movement globally has fought for over many years.
Yet feeling defeated, not celebrating May Day, would let our opponents win, fuelling anti-democratic and authoritarian forces around the globe. International Workers Day is our day, not just to celebrate past victories but to commit to the global struggle for workers’ rights. We must do that this year as never before.
In the United States, our affiliates are marking May Day by calling on trade unions around the world to support their campaign to protect migrant workers from the vicious attacks being carried out by the Trump administration and other oppressive regimes around the world. The IUF is urging all affiliates, as part of their May Day actions, to support this campaign by writing to American and/or El Salvador authorities and demanding the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Model letters are available in English and Spanish.) The rise of authoritarian and far-right governments represents a direct attack on workers and our shared values of justice and equality. Trump’s presidency will only strengthen these forces.
We can draw strength from our history – looking back through the IUF records, I was inspired by this quote from one of my predecessors, Dan Gallin, when he addressed in 1998 the May Day rally of our affiliate SEWA (India):
“The strength of May Day comes from its international character. It is the day on which the labour movement asserts its universal values, the foremost of which is solidarity. It has been celebrated in many different circumstances, including the most difficult: under the gun of military and colonial occupation, in jails, in labour camps, by small groups meeting secretly in fear of arrest, as well as in mass demonstrations and mass meetings where workers had the right to do so, or took the right to do so. It has been celebrated in every corner of the earth. It is almost a spiritual bond between workers.”
Today, we must be out on the streets making our message loud and clear. An injury to one is an injury to all. The IUF will never abandon this basic tenet of the labour movement. At our Congress in 2023 we promised that we would seize every occasion to promote peace, to build solidarity and develop a collective narrative to counter all forms of violence, intolerance and hatred based on race, ethnicity, language, social origin, descent, gender, age, or religion. This we will do.
