Hail
May 1st !
The
Working Class Will Bring About the Spring of Humanity!
One hundred and
twenty-two years ago, the workers of the world decided to celebrate May 1st
as “Working Class Day.” This decision was made in 1889 at the Congress of the
Socialists of the World in Paris,
France. On May 1st, when nature wakes up
from her winter sleep, when the mountain and forest become freshly green, when
the meadows and wheat fields sprout, and the sun bestows more warmth, when the
exuberance of freshness is felt in the air, when nature becomes once again
alive and finds its happiness, the socialist workers in Paris declared loudly
on this day that the working class will bring about “The Spring of Humanity,”
that the working class will break the chains of the capitalist yoke, and that
the working class has the mission to build a new world on the foundations of
freedom and socialism.
May 1st,
the day of unity and solidarity of labourers, is drawing near at a time when
the regime of the Islamic Republic continues its attacks on the rights of
workers and toilers, on the growing worker-movement, on the demands for bread
and jobs and freedom, and on the job security for the working people. The
Islamic regime finds itself weak in the face of the democratic movement of the Iranian
people. The capitalist regime of the Islamic Republic, under the cover of the
“Plan to Appropriate the Subsidies to Low Income Families,” has started to cut all
subsidies to the basic necessities of life. The Plan was encouraged by the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. This policy will result in more
economic poverty, higher inflation, and a deeper class gap. In the rule of the
Islamic republic, the working class has no hope for better living conditions.
The Supreme Council of Labour, which is the de facto representative of the
government and employers, has set the monthly minimum wage for the workers as
330,300 Touman (equivalent to $300 US dollars). This minimum wage is about 20
percent above the level of the absolute poverty line in Iran. The
Council has also approved an annual of 9 percent wage increase, far less than
the rate of inflation. This year, the dinner tables of the workers are emptier
than they were last year. Taking into account rapidly rising inflation and the
runaway cost of the basic necessities, the monthly minimum wage for Iranian
workers should have been set at 1,500,000 Touman (equivalent to $1,500 US
dollars.)
This year, we
welcome the arrival of May 1st in a situation that the young
worker-movement in Iran,
inspired by the spring of revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt,
challenges the regime of the Islamic Republic at every turn. It is this spirit
of resistance that has caused fear and panic for the Iranian regime and has
threatened the future of the Islamic Republic. The revolutionary movements in Tunisia and Egypt, with the
banner of bread and freedom and dignity, have launched major offenses on the
unpopular, corrupt, and despotic regimes and are the sources of inspiration in
the entire Middle East. Fearful of this inspiration,
the dark regime of the Islamic Republic has intensified the repression of the
worker-activists and the prominent members of the independent trade unions.
Despite this reactionary repression, the struggles of the Iranian workers
against privatisation and collective layoffs, for payment of delayed wages, for
higher wages and the right to form independent trade unions, and for the elimination
of the government Plan on subsidies have increased. The worker-strikes in
factories such as Khodro Machinery, Iran Petro-Chemical Plants, Iran
Communication Company and in many other places indicate that the regime’s
attempts to silence workers by the use of repression have been in vain.
May 1st
is coming up at a time when the imperialists have invaded Libya in order
to stop the deepening and spreading revolution of Arab people. The major
imperialist powers have waged a criminal war on Libya under the pretext of
“safeguarding” the Libyan people. They have used the reactionary decision of
the UN Security Council to colonise Libya and to gain direct control of
oil production and the other resources of the country. It is important that on
May 1st, the working class of all countries loudly condemn the
invasion of Libya
and demand an end to and the bombardment and destruction of that tiny country.
It is the internationalist duty of the communists and revolutionaries of all
lands to demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Saudi army
from Bahrain and the complete withdrawal of the imperialist occupying forces
from Afghanistan and Iraq, to defend the Palestinian people in the face of
Zionist aggression, and to emphasise the widespread boycott of the terrorist
regime of Israel.
We send
congratulations to the heroic workers of Iran and of the world on the occasion
of May 1st, our “Working Class Day.” The Party of Labour of Iran
(Toufan) is certain that it is only through unity and organisation and the
political leadership of the party of the working class and only through a
socialist revolution guided by Leninism that the victory of the camp of
labour over the camp of capital is possible.
|
|
Hail May 1st, the
Working Class Day!
Long live the revolution of Arab
People against Imperialism and Reaction!
Down with the Regime of the
Islamic Republic!
Long live Socialism, the Banner
of Human Salvation!
The Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan)
WWW.Toufan.org
Toufan@Toufan.org