Workers’ Unity on May Day
The last year has seen workers in Britain and across the world rise up to demand justice – but we can't beat the ruling class without unity.
The last year has seen workers in Britain and across the world rise up to demand justice – but we can't beat the ruling class without unity.
In the past month, university bosses have threatened to withhold the pay of workers observing a marking boycott. These draconian acts - intended to break their workers’ spirit - have only emboldened them.
Nobody should die at work – but the government’s refusal to remove asbestos is killing more than five thousand people a year. On International Workers' Memorial Day, we should remember them by fighting for a system that values workers more than profits.
Antonio Gramsci died on this day in 1937. We remember his revolutionary life and his contributions to the struggle against capitalism.
Kwame Nkrumah, who died on this day in 1972, was a leader in the fight against colonialism. But he knew that independence wasn't enough – only a unified, socialist Africa could truly free itself from its former masters.
From the struggle for Civil Rights to opposing apartheid in South Africa and the blockade of Cuba, Harry Belafonte was a lifelong radical – and a fighter for justice both at home and abroad.
On this day in 1974 a mutiny in the Portuguese army put an end to the country's dictatorship. The revolution which followed brought down an empire and showed how working people could take control of society.
Today, Italy celebrates Liberation Day in memory of the victory against fascism, but many of its partisans fought for more than a return to liberal democracy – they wanted a revolutionary new society.
The Salford Red Devils have shown how ordinary people can run a top-level rugby league club free of corporate owners – but to secure its future, the club needs wider support and solidarity.
The Paris Commune of 1871 was still fresh in the memory by the time of Ireland's Easter Rising – and, for 1916 leader James Connolly, its radical politics and urban warfare offered an example to follow.
On this day in 1932, hundreds of workers took to the hills of northern England to challenge the right of landed gentry to enclose the countryside.
On this day in 2013, Rana Plaza collapsed, killing more than 1,000 garment workers. The tragedy exposed the dire conditions in much of the world's fashion industry – and the corporate elite which profit from them.