Workers are powerful.
Despite the risks of coronavirus and lack of protective equipment, nurses are out saving lives, supermarket workers and machine technicians are at work, farmers are harvesting food, workers are picking up waste, and teachers are working hard to help our children keep growing . Thank you, we value you, we couldn’t live without you.
That’s why this May Day we encourage everyone everywhere to make some noise together to show our solidarity and gratitude to workers and to continue to fight for everyone’s rights in this critical moment.
Here’s 3 things you can do today:
1. Show your solidarity and make some noise for #InternationalWorkersDay.
https://www.facebook.com/12185972707/posts/10158627301892708/
This crisis cannot silence us. Throughout the pandemic people have found creative (and loud) ways to keep pushing for a just and swift response – clapping for healthcare workers, sharing music, banging pots and pans to highlight their demands for protection.
So pick up a pot and a big spoon, step onto your doorstep or window and join people everywhere this May Day to demand a #JustRecovery for all our valued workers and their families. Connect up with labour groups and others fighting for a Just Recovery where you live.
2. Share this statement of solidarity – and make a statement of your own on #JustRecovery
As lobbyists jostle for the ears of politicians deciding stimulus packages, we are reminded this May Day of the people who really deserve protection and financial support the most. These are the communities that need the promise of a safe future and good jobs – not CEOs.
“We hope you’ll celebrate workers with us this May Day, because without strong labour movements advocating for their rights and welfare, our chances of responding to the climate crisis and other crises is greatly diminished.” 350 Africa
“Across the climate and many progressive movements, unless we work together, the issues that we work on will be much harder, if not impossible to address.”
Why solidarity with organised labour strengthens the climate movement: https://t.co/luw8eWHAW9 #WorkersDay pic.twitter.com/hZlToL1Gau
— 350 Africa (@350Africa) May 1, 2020
Economic damage from the crisis is widespread and devastating. Precarious workers from every country are suffering, and job losses mean many people will struggle to even put food on the table. Workers and their communities come first.
We acknowledge that even outside a pandemic, many of these key workers are vulnerable and invisible. People of color and the communities already most at risk from environmental pollution are also bearing the brunt of this crisis. Yet they’re often the workers who carry out the most essential functions our societies rely on.
Workers at some of America's largest companies will join in a May 1 strike at Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, and more.
Show your support for these workers. #MayDay2020 https://t.co/4G7J6QYcWl— 350 dot org (@350) May 1, 2020
Even if you are not part of a union or out at work today, there are a number of ways you can take action to show solidarity with workers in your own countries. We have all benefited from the struggles and successes of the labour movement, and we all have something to offer. You can create and share art that honours the frontlines risking their lives in this pandemic, you can demand leaders prioritise a #JustRecovery that provides assistance to workers directly, or you can join the International Trade Union Confederation for the world’s first #VirtualMayDay online.
For the first time in 130 years, workers and their unions have been forced off the streets on #MayDay.
📌1⃣ MAY: join us for the world’s first global #VirtualMayDay ✊🏾✊🏽✊🏿
👉https://t.co/yptYRFOgcA pic.twitter.com/HVu29Waiwj— ITUC (@ituc) April 30, 2020
3. Join a Just Recovery online workshop
Making noise to show our solidarity with workers today is one thing. Taking action together to secure a Just Recovery for those most in need in the wake of this crisis is another.
We’re bringing together people from the hundreds of organisations that have signed on to the five key Just Recovery principles to share strategies and ideas for bringing these principles to life.
Join one of two online workshops next Friday
As we build our way out of this global pandemic, we must bring workers with us and put policies in place that protect health and dignified work, like with a Green New Deal. After all, the climate crisis will only continue to threaten workers and make access to benefits and healthcare more important alongside the need for good jobs.
Even if there won’t be big labor marches in the streets today, we honor the legacy of unions and all those workers – undocumented, migrants, gig workers, women, care workers – who continue to be the backbone of our society, all those who have fought and won the ability for many of us to lead dignified life.