May 1 is celebrated internationally as the day to commemorate the gains that class struggle has contributed to our standard of living. It is also called "Labour Day" or "International Worker's Day". As a general holiday, the day stemmed from commemorations of the Haymarket Riot, which took place in Chicago on May 4, 1886 in the context of heightened agitation for an eight hour work day. But as the struggle and success of the eight hour day has become a focal point of working class history, so too has May Day transcended the commemoration of an isolated incident and the day is now a time to reflect on all the achievements of our class, in all times, and in all places.
Just a few days ago, in late April, Australia and New Zealand celebrated a massively popular ANZAC day. It is an extremely sad state of affairs, and testament to the success of business propaganda as well as our current weakness as a united class, that the glorification and justification of war will be a bigger event for most working families then will May Day.
But the facts of the matter are that all the good things that we enjoy in our life come from class struggle, and demanding more for ourselves. Whether its time away from work do things we enjoy and spend time with friends, or having disposable income for luxuries, all these things came from working class militancy. Even labour saving technology comes from militancy, as over the years business has attempted to replace disobedient workers with machines. And if in the short term technology can be used against us in the form of unemployment, we can turn it around and demand less work. The 36 hour week is common now in the public sector. Why not the private? And what if we built less war ships, tanks and bombs; and soldiers and politicians contributed to production, what would the work week be then?
The fact is that dying on a beach in Turkey for the British Empire doesn't advance our interests. Nor do we know what our standard of living would be now if Japan had won WWII. The current wars for oil in the Gulf seem to have boosted the price of fuel. The only definite thing we know is that all good things come from working together as a class and demanding more for ourselves. May Day is a great opportunity to contemplate and discuss priorities.