017 Apr 2025 by central wftu
The International Class-oriented Trade Union Movement, the workers, and the militant unions all over the globe honor with struggles the 139th anniversary of the workers’ struggle in Chicago in 1886. The World Federation of Trade Unions, the most historic international trade union organisation, representing more than 105 million workers all the length and breadth of the world, sends a cordial and militant message to all the workers and farmers, to the ordinary people of toil and labour, on the occasion of International Workers Day, which constitutes a lasting and bright milestone of struggle.
This year’s May Day coincides with the 80th Anniversary of the WFTU, which was born in the ashes of the most destructive war in the history of humanity in the revolutionary fresh air of the great anti-fascist victory of the peoples with the Soviet Union at the forefront, and completes 8 decades of continuous and uninterrupted struggle for the rights of workers, for justice and social progress, against all forms of discrimination, against wars and imperialist interventions, against may by man exploitation.
Both the messages and demands of the Chicago pioneers of 1886 and the needs that inevitably led to the establishment of the WFTU remain relevant and necessary today. The crisis of capitalism deepens and is generalized. Social inequalities are widening dramatically. Democratic freedoms and trade union rights are under attack all over the world, and the imperialist wars and interventions are on the daily agenda.
The genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank, the bombing in Lebanon and other countries of the wider Middle East region, with the support and encouragement of the USA, the EU, and their allies, continues, revealing in all its grandeur the hypocrisy, cynicism, and inhumane nature of imperialism.
At the same time, global defence spending rose to 2.46 trillion USD last year, with big budget increases in countries of Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. Notably, there are examples of countries that are almost doubling their defence spending. At the same time, the USA President Trump calls for a minimum spending of 5% of GDP among NATO members, and the EU Commission Summit decided to finance 800 billion euros for military armament within the ReArm EUROPE project.
The shift towards a war economy is clearly a priority for the ruling circles of capitalism, as it incites profitability for multinational monopolies and the expansion of the geopolitical power of developed imperialist states.
These new massive increases in military spending, apart from being a threat to global peace and security, also mean even harsher austerity policies and widening social inequality. The resources that would be destined for families, workers, and ordinary people are cut and diverted to rearmament, and civil and social rights and liberties are placed under guardianship, because in the preparation for war, different opinion are not allowed.
The WFTU and the class-oriented trade unions strongly condemn the war preparations of the bourgeoisie. The popular strata have nothing to expect from a new widespread and generalized war but death, poverty, destruction, refuges, and hardship. We demand spending for the contemporary needs of the workers and the peoples. We demand adequate education and healthcare and not weapons. We demand dignified working and living conditions and not ammunition and missiles. We demand spending on culture, sport, and recreation, and not fighter aircraft and naval vessels.
We demand measures against rising inflation and living costs that erode living standards. We oppose privatization, outsourcing, and flexible forms of work that intensify the precarious employment and exploitation, alongside extended retirement ages.
The Workers and social achievements are under relentless attacks and challenges undermining labor rights, collective agreements, and democratic freedoms. Workplace safety remains neglected, causing daily injuries and fatalities. Despite global challenges, workers do not passively accept the anti-labor offensive on their rights and freedoms. Millions mobilize worldwide for dignified work and the protection of trade union and social rights with the WFTU members to be firmly at the forefront of these struggles. The response of bourgeois governments to the just popular demands is the sharpening of state repression and authoritarianism. At the same time, employers and governments are attempting to manipulate labor struggles, betting on the role of yellow unions and compromised trade union leaders.
In our era it is obvious that the prerequisites for truly dignified working and social living conditions for all workers exist in abundance. The class-oriented trade union movement fights so that the huge productive capabilities are not utilized to increase the profits of capitalists and create unimaginable wealth for a few, but to ensure dignified living and working conditions for those who create and produce the wealth.
Organization and struggle is the only path that can overturn the existing realities of misery, exploitation, and social injustice. The weapon of workers everywhere is solidarity and internationalism. The WFTU remains firmly committed to these principles. It continues its 80-year path with the same vision that inspired its founding: for a world without wars and imperialist interventions, without exploitation and discrimination. A world where work will be permanent, stable, regulated, and safe.
On the occasion of May Day 2025, the WFTU calls upon the class and militant trade unions around the world to take initiatives and organize this year’s campaign and activities under the slogan:
Their profits or Our lives – Hope lies in peoples’ struggle
ΝΟ to war economies
YES to the class struggles:
-against the imperialist wars and interventions,
-against capitalist exploitation,
-for the satisfaction of the workers’ contemporary needs.
Let the WFTU flag proudly wave along with the flags of the militant trade unions in the uninterrupted class struggle for stable work with rights, social security, free public, and universal health and education, a dignified life. This will be the highest and proper celebration of the glorious 80-year course of struggles, sacrifices, and dignity of the international class-oriented trade union movement.
LONG LIVE MAY DAY!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONALIST SOLIDARITY!
LONG LIVE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WFTU!
