May Day 2011

1 MAY LONDON MAY DAY ORGANISING COMMITTEE celebrating for over 110 years international workers’ day

May Day has been celebrated in London since the 1880s. The Committee has ensured this key day of international solidarity is marked every May 1st. Despite often being ignored by the mass media, the celebrations have maintained the traditions of unity and solidarity in London.The London May Day has been a unique bringing together of trade unionists, workers from the many international communities in London, pensioners, anti-globalisation organisations, students, political bodies and many others in a show of working class unity (see our supporters list). The whole theme of May Day is unity and solidarity – across the city, across the country, across the world. Three constant calls have been made – trade union rights, human rights, international solidarity. We have been proud that a vital and major part of the March are workers from the different international communities in London – a practical expression of working class solidarity. Along with the solid support of trade union organisations, these have been the bed rocks of LMDOC We continue the demand, adopted by the whole trade union movement in the 1970s, for May 1st to be a public holiday. The Labour Government of the time imposed the divisive decision to make the nearest Monday a Bank Holiday. This created many difficulties and separated Britain from virtually every other European country that celebrates May Day on 1st May. The anti-union laws of the Tories further pressured the movement and made participation in May Day difficult. But in the last 5 years May Day has been growing. We have held a major march each year, whether going to Wapping in the mid-80s, supporting Sky Chef workers or Rover & Ford workers in 2001 and 2002. LMDOC also responded quickly to the fascist bombings in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho in 1999 by involving those communities in the March, showing in a clear practical way the solidarity of the organised trade union movement, an important message to the right. In 2001 we tied up with key sections of the anti-capitalist globalisation movement who had been campaigning on May Day. The common concerns about exploitation around the world, the role of multinationals and the advocates of aggressive free trade agendas meant there was the basis for unity – the basis of May Day. In 2001 and 2002 this swelled the ranks of the demonstration and introduced new aspects of May Day. Each year May Day in London has sought to unite with different campaigns and activities to keep the action very relevant to current challenges and expand those getting involved in May Day. A key victory of 2002 was getting use of Trafalgar Square on working days and the encouragement of the Mayor to make the Square a focus of activity for Londoners, as it has been since it was created.

May Day 2011 Flyer

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Special May Day Badges Available

Why we have marched from Clerkenwell Green

More on the site here: http://www.londonmayday.org/home.php

The fight to save jobs & services has to intensify. The pressure must be kept up.
The bankers are back on the bonus gravy train whilst we are being hit to pay
for the crisis they created. We face price rises and wage cuts, pensions slashed
and the most vulnerable in society under attack. Yet if the big companies and
rich paid their taxes there would be no crisis.
This attack is hitting workers across Europe & the world.
Unity is our strength.
JOIN US ON MAY DAY - CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY
Trafalgar Square Speakers include
TONY BENN   SARAH VEALE (TUC)   KEN LIVINGSTONE
LEADING TRADE UNIONISTS
BLACK ACTIVISTS RISING AGAINST CUTS
STUDENT ACTIVIST
LES WOODWARD (GMB REMPLOY)
Joint Chairs—LINDA KIETZ GLATUC & MARTIN GOULD SERTUC
 TRADE UNION RIGHTS—HUMAN RIGHTS—INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

LMDOC supported by  GLATUC, S&ERTUC, UNITE London & Eastern Region,
CWU London Region, PCS London & South East Region, ASLEF, RMT, MU London,
FBU London & Southern Regions, GMB London & Southern Regions, UNISON Greater
London Region, NPC, GLPA and other Pensioners’ organisations and organisations
representing Turkish, Kurdish, Chilean, Colombian, Peruvian, Portuguese, West Indian,
Sri Lankan, Cypriot, Tamil,  Iraqi, Iranian, Irish, Nigerian migrant workers & communities
plus many other trade union & community organisations

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And this: WRITTEN BY COALITION OF RESISTANCE

May Day 2011 is the next big London anti-cuts Trade Union March.
Celebrate International Workers Day – with a march for Trade Union Rights,  Human Rights,  International Solidarity
Sunday May 1st – Assemble 12 noon  Clerkenwell Green  (nearest tube Farringdon) March to Rally in Trafalgar Square 1pm

The organisers say:

“The fight to save jobs & services has to intensify. The pressure must be kept up.  The bankers are back on the bonus gravy train whilst we are being hit to pay for the crisis they created. We face price rises and wage cuts, pensions slashed and the most vulnerable in society under attack. Yet if the big companies and rich paid their taxes there would be no crisis. This attack is hitting workers across Europe & the world. Unity is our strength.”

Trafalgar Square Speakers include
TONY BENN,
SARAH VEALE (TUC),
KEN LIVINGSTONE,
LES WOODWARD (GMB REMPLOY)
LEADING TRADE UNIONISTS,
BLACK ACTIVISTS RISING AGAINST CUTS,
STUDENT ACTIVIST,
LES WOODWARD (GMB REMPLOY)

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And if you get there one hour earlier, the Anarchists of London recommend you ‘wear shorts’ (a radical departure from protocol I am sure – but I like it :).

London Mayday 2011 – A celebration of our strength // Anarchist Public Assembly

Anarchists of London | 17.04.2011 19:45 | Workers’ Movements

In the winter of 2010 the nation’s school and university students showed that it isn’t only opinion polls or media corporations that can set the agenda, but also the mass actions of the people. Suddenly the talk changed from how could we best afford this crisis to whether we could actually resist the austerity measures and reject the whole notion of a crisis for us so that the rich can continue rule. What was considered possible, realistic and justifiable was changed: the students had lost their battle but started a war

On March 26th we faced a real danger of a tiny handful calling a ceasefire on our behalf; in the crowd of 250,000 one voice was already trying to sell ‘slightly less cuts at a slower pace’. On Oxford Street and in Mayfair, on Piccadilly and finally in Trafalgar Square thousands of others made their intentions clear: no cuts at any pace – in place of protest, action.As if a few shirtless drunks had had a row, mouthpieces for the elite quickly called the targeted sabotage and occupations carried out by several organised groups of over a thousand the work of ‘mindless thugs’. A principled minority of journalists have already opposed this blatant nonsense, but a real question faces the radicals now: what form does our opposition take next? How do we communicate it? One month ago we walked the walk. Now we have to talk the talk.

We don’t think a few broken windows will be the tactic for change any more than pre-approved marches and speechathons. We believe in the direct action of the majority of society against the parasitic minority. The anti-cuts movement is the latest flare up of the fight between employer and employee that has been raging since the beginning of capitalism.

If we believe we can do more than change the agenda, we have to start acting like it – and we have to start saying it. These are our services, these are our workplaces, these are our streets. This is our day.

THIS IS NOT A PROTEST AND THIS IS NOT A BLACK BLOC. This is a day to celebrate ourselves and our struggle together, to take pride in the fight and our ability to carry it out. It’s hopefully going to be sunny, wear shorts – bring your friends, families, and co-workers.

London Mayday 2011 – A celebration of our strength // Anarchist Public Assembly
Speakers * Music * Infostalls * Fun

Facebook event:  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203237313032816

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Meanwhile, a longer and more southern view from Neil Transpontine – yaay:

Hot off the press, this new pamphlet published by Past Tense covers the history of May Day festivities in South London from ancient times through to the present day. It covers both the traditional seasonal customs and the more recent May Day socialist and anarchist demonstrations, and indeed shows how these ‘green’ and ‘red’ elements of May Day have become interwined over the last 100 years.

This pamphlet includes the stories of Walworth and Bromley May Queens, May Games in Greenwich Park and Shooters Hill, the Deptford Jack in the Green, demonstrations in Bermondsey and Woolwich, Horse Parades on the Old Kent Road, Maypoles in Kennington and St Mary Cray, festivals on Clapham Common and at Crystal Palace. The cast includes Henry VIII, Robin Hood, John Ruskin, milkmaids, chimney sweeps, Bermondsey Settlement, Woolwich Children’s Co-operative Guild, North Camberwell Radical Club, the New Cross National Union of Railwaymen and the Dulwich College National Union of School Students.

May Day in South London: a History by Neil Transpontine (Past Tense Publications, 2011), 50 pages, A5, £3.00. Available to order online (£3.50 including P&P) – see box in right hand bar.Also available from:

- Bookseller Crow

, 50 Westow Street, Crystal Palace SE19

- 
- The Review Bookshop, 131 Bellenden Road, Peckham SE15