WORKERS of the world unite – you have nothing to lose but a few hours of your bank holiday weekend!
We’ve seen hundreds of thousands march against education cuts, millions demonstrate their opposition to the Iraq War, yet May Day, once the highlight of any self-respecting activist’s calendar, has been muted since the dawn of the Millennium.
Today, however, May Day is getting a makeover. With protest fever gripping the nation once again, activists say a perfect storm of spending cuts, anti-capitalist anger and glorious weather will draw more than 5000 people to Glasgow city centre to march as part of the International Workers’ Day celebrations.
A fresh alliance of trade unionists, artists and students aims to bring the event to a new generation, and demonstrations are also on the cards for Edinburgh, Dundee and other towns.
While for some May Day may bring to mind rioting and attacks on high-street businesses, today promises to be a more family-friendly affair. Events in the run-up to the day have featured the poet Tom Leonard and comedians Susan Calman and Bruce Morton, plus a new play starring David Hayman.
Jennifer McCarey, a prominent Glasgow trades unionist, said May Day was finally getting back to the roots laid down around the first International Workers’ Day in the 1880s.
“I’m in my 40s, from a trades union family, and my memories are of big march days, fun, it being a celebration,” she said. “It’s fair to say we’ve not had that recently, but this year, for lots of reasons, people are starting to talk about having things in common with the trades union movement.
“We represent what the majority of ordinary working people feel: we want a Scotland that cares for our weakest individuals, that looks like the kind of social democratic country our parents fought for.
“It’s safe to say that for the last five or six years it was about celebrating the past, but this year all of us are fighting for our lives and our movement, and it’s brought a great vibrancy to it.”
May Day has been synonymous with the workers’ movement since 1886, when police opened fire on demonstrators in Chicago. China, the USSR and Cuba all made it a national holiday, while more right-wing governments struggled to dissuade activists from taking part.
Revolutionary zeal last flared in the UK in 2000, when protesters and police fought running battles on the streets of London on May Day. Since then, May Day has been relatively muted, and demonstrations have tended to be more sporadic and focused on specific issues.
Retired trades unionist Chris Bartter, a key figure in the Glasgow Friends of May Day group, admitted the celebrations had been hampered by poor planning and execution but insisted things were going to pick up again from today.
“The trades union movement now faces a very hostile government in Westminster, and we have clear attacks on people’s services and the economies that working people rely on. That’s why it’s rejuvenated. Maybe those things weren’t so evident in the recent past, so people didn’t see the need,” he said.
With vandals and criminals hijacking recent protests, the police will be wary while chaperoning today’s event. A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman declined to elaborate on arrangements, but said the demo would be covered adequately.
Events start in George Square, Glasgow at 11am before a march to the Old Fruitmarket at 11.30am
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