One for the Workers

The countries of the world each lay claim to a day of the year, but the 1^st May, International Workers’ Day, belongs to no single nation; of all the days of the year May 1st is unique. It is our collective day, dedicated to the workers of the world so I was delighted to be asked to speak at the Tyne & Wear May Day march and rally in Newcastle to mark the occasion, on 3^rd May.

Irrespective of your religion or your nationality, that is the day we celebrate the contribution which ordinary men and women make to the world through their work. The late, great leader of the T&G, Jack Jones, always used to repeat a simple truth that he learned at Sunday school:

“…that the good things on earth are produced by labour. Not just the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the homes we live in, nor just the planes, trains and automobiles we travel in, but the hospitals that care for the sick, the schools that educate our children, the services we all rely on, all exist because of the collaborative endeavours of large numbers of people.”

Transport, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, public services – they are all collective efforts.

On this day we celebrate the central part which work plays in the world, and in celebrating work we must also remember those denied the chance to work; including in this country almost a million young people. We also need to remember those who travel continents looking for work, only to find themselves exploited and abused; the women trafficked into sexual slavery, the migrant workers exploited by notorious gangmasters, the immigrants doing the work nobody else wants to.

It’s amazing isn’t it how little has changed from the days of the Tolpuddle Martyrs – then they sent you half way round the world if you protested against exploitation, now they bring you half way round the world just so they can exploit you.

May 1^st is the day when we speak out on behalf of the exploited and we speak up for the trade unionists of Colombia – risking all for their fellow workers amidst horrific violence. We speak up for working people in Burma – struggling to shake off the yoke of military dictatorship. Let us remember too the victims of the terrible tragedy in Bangladesh a year ago – ordinary workers killed and maimed by employer negligence.

For all of them, we want no more than we want for ourselves: justice, equality and respect at work. May Day allows us to celebrate the bonds that unite us as workers, as trade unionists and as people - wherever in the world we are.

Beth Farhat – Northern TUC Regional Secretary