Första maj 2020

De flesta lyckades nog underhålla och peppa sig under första maj trots att demonstrationer och många torgmöten tvingades utebli. I sociala medier fanns tal att lyssna på från en del LS och några musiker bjussade på sång. Första maj-radio fick vi från kulturhuset Cyklopen i hela 21 timmar. Här bjuder medlemmar och andra syndikalister på bilder från det första firandet av första maj i corona-tider. De flesta av fotografierna har delats genom Facebook och Instagram. Nedanför bilderna finns en länk till vår generalsekreterare Erik Bonks första maj-tal och sedan presenteras rödsvarta koordinationens första maj-uttalande.

Första maj 2020-collage

Första maj-talet

Ingenting är sig likt. Massuppsägningar. Smittrisk. Demonstrationsförbud.

Allting är som vanligt: Arbetare tar den hårdaste smällen i krisen. Vi fyller inga gator idag, men kampen för bättre villkor pågår varje dag ute på arbetsplatserna.

Arbetsplatskamp handlar om så mycket mer än lönenivåer och arbetstider. Det handlar om samhällsdemokrati. Om vem som har den legitima beslutsmakten. Kungars och diktatorers oinskränkta makt över alla andra har historien sedan länge dömt ut som illegitim. Den enskildes makt över de många har vi gemensam förkastat. Istället är det demokratin vi hyllar som den enda legitima makten. Men hur ser det ut på arbetsplatsen? Hur fungerar näringslivet?

Första maj Sergels torg

Det är början på Erik Bonks första maj-tal.
Här finns hela talet att lyssna på! På svenska, engelska och spanska

Första maj-uttalande från rödsvarta koordinationen
May first manifesto from the red and black coordination

By commemorating May 1st in 2020, we, the unions that form the Red and Black Coordination shall not confine our claims. Beyond the health crisis caused by the Coronavirus, we shall raise our voices to continue denouncing the greed of capital which continues to be paid not only with the wealth generated by the working class, but also with their health and with their lives.

As is well known, on Labour Day, the so-called Chicago Martyrs are honoured, anarchist trade unionists who were executed in the United States. They participated in the days of struggle to achieve the 8- hour workday, which originated in the strike on May 1, 1886 and reached its peak 3 days later, on May 4, with the Haymarket Revolt. Since then, May 1 has become a day of struggle, a day for claiming workers' rights.

However, this year, this tribute, this day of struggle, must go further than the traditional demands, for we must remember how the so-called coronavirus crisis has been affecting lives on the peripheries of society among temporary workers, riders, homeless people, refugees and immigrants, prisoners, dependents, the elderly...

Faced with governmental measures taken by the same old crews as usual, mutual support and solidarity -the values that have defined anarcho-syndicalism, must prevail, now more than ever, among workers and neighbours, as in any type of social relationship.

But the self-management of the production centres must also be in our minds. We must be aware of the closure of companies and the destruction of jobs caused by this pandemic. The occupation of workplaces and management by workers could be a solution.

Therefore, at the Red and Black Coordination we consider uniting our traditional demands on this day, those that, though by no means new, must be borne in mind, since, in the face of an international pandemic, the problems of the working class, today more than ever, are also international:

  • A universal and public healthcare system
  • Basic income or the prohibition of dismissals and the maintenance of wages
  • Aid to dependents, the elderly and vulnerable people
  • Decent pensions
  • An end to repression and the defence of the right to strike.
  • The repeal of labour reforms that make for precarious working conditions
  • Real measures to fight against the machoism that prevails in our society

    When this confinement ends, we will take to the streets again to demand that companies put in place all the necessary measures to preserve workers’ health and prevent workplace accidents. We will also demand that the repressive and liberticidal laws be repealed and that we dispose of the necessary budgets to have guarantee quality public services for everybody, including migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

    Long live May Day and long live the Working Class!

    Rödsvarta koordinationen

Rödsvarta koordinationen sprider uttalanden i egna kanaler och publicerar även uppdateringar om samarbetet här: http://redblack.org