CWI May Day statement

Workers look for alternative to bankrupt capitalism

May Day demonstration 2009, photo Paul Mattsson

THE COMMITTEE for a Workers' International (CWI - the socialist international organisation to which the Socialist Party is affiliated) sent May Day greetings to workers, youth and the oppressed everywhere. This year's May Day marches took place against a backdrop of the worst crisis of capitalism since the 1930s.

The CWI statement points out that the "working class and poor of the world are being made to pay for the catastrophic breakdown of the capitalist system. Huge government bailouts have 'socialised the costs' while 'privatising the profits'. Many millions of workers face severe social welfare cuts, mass unemployment, lower wages, higher taxes and house repossessions. Young people, particularly school leavers, are amongst the hardest by the crisis".

However, working people are starting to fight back. "In late 2008 and in the first part of 2009, magnificent mass demonstrations and general strikes against attacks on working and living conditions took place in Ireland, Greece, France, Italy and Portugal, and other parts of Western and Southern Europe. Mass street protests erupted against corrupt, pro-market regimes in the Baltic States and strikes are on the rise in Russia. As well as this, factory occupations occurred in the US, Ireland, Britain and the Ukraine."

The statement concludes: "As the crisis deepens and prolongs, and as working people look for an alternative to the bankrupt system and its bankrupt ideology, genuine socialism and Marxism will find a greater response."

The full May Day CWI declaration can be read here