May Day, 2015: The fight is for a new world

Latest

In the spirit of May Day, 60,000 poverty wage workers in Chicago and elsewhere take to the streets demanding a survivable wage of $15 per hour. The imaginative one day “Fight For 15” strikes that demand more back from the exploiters, give us pause to imagine a future world without any exploitation at all. PHOTO/BOB SIMPSON
In the spirit of May Day, 60,000 poverty wage workers in Chicago and elsewhere take to the streets demanding a survivable wage of $15 per hour. The imaginative one day “Fight For 15” strikes that demand more back from the exploiters, give us pause to imagine a future world without any exploitation at all.
PHOTO/BOB SIMPSON

May Day, the day when the workers of the world put forth demands and express their international solidarity, is of special significance this year.
One hundred twenty-eight years have passed since the first, massive demonstration in Chicago for the 8-hour workday. The call for international solidarity could only be addressed to the workers of Europe and North America. The toiling masses in the rest of the world labored in slavery or under the heel of tyrants.
The call for an eight-hour day was an effort to reform society to conform to the tremendous economic growth created by the steam engine. If capitalism was to survive it was necessary to expand consumption. This was done by the expansion of the workforce and an increase in wages—even though the workers had to fight every inch of the way.
During those years, industrial imperialism reached its zenith.  Over the succeeding decades, it was overthrown by a combination of war, globalization of production and the market, the ascendancy of finance capital over industry, and then, speculative capital over investment capital. This was made possible by the step-by-step and stage-by-stage application of electronics to production.
As electronics globalized production it also began the process of creating production with little or no labor. Unemployment and poverty grew along with the expansion of production and the concentration of untold wealth into the hands of billionaires.
The website, www.dosomething.org, recently reported: Nearly 1/2 of the world’s population—more than 3 billion people—live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty—less than $1.25 a day. One billion children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. Eight hundred five million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat. More than 750 million people lack adequate access to clean drinking water. Diarrhea caused by inadequate drinking water, sanitation, and hand hygiene kills an estimated 842,000 people every year globally, or approximately 2,300 people per day.”
The electronic revolution is irreversible. Capitalists survive only by producing more, better, cheaper. This means more and more labor-less production. A corresponding social revolution is inevitable.
The world has entered the first stage of a revolution that will forever end poverty and exploitation by transferring socially necessary means of production into the hands of society. We must continue the fight for concessions—for better wages and working conditions, knowing that the next stage in history was described by the revolutionaries of Paris, who shouted to the world, “Arise! Ye wretched of the earth!”

PT Logo collage
+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

‘We Need Urgent Global Climate Action’

Eighty-nine percent of people worldwide want their governments to do more to address the global climate crisis. Conference on tipping points says situation is urgent. Meanwhile U.S. govt does more to boost fossil fuel forms of energy.

May Day 2025: United We Will Win

International Worker’s Day is celebrated on May 1st around the world. Today, the entire U.S. working class, of which immigrants comprise an integral part, is under attack. The defense of immigrants is vital to the defense of the entire working class.

White School Officer Pepper-sprayed and Kneed Black Beaumont, TX Student, Complaint says. Will Feds Act?

A 6-second video, recorded by a teacher and reviewed by the Texas Observer, shows an officer grabbing a student’s hair, kneeing her in the face, and knocking the 100-pound girl on her back.

Pope Francis Dies After Easter Plea to End War in Gaza

"In his final public message, Pope Francis decried the “terrible conflict” in Gaza.

Bring Union Brother Kilmar Home: His Deportation Is an Attack on All of Us

The deportation of union brother Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a gut punch to the labor movement, a slap in the face to every worker who dares to organize.

More from the People's Tribune