The year 2025 is turning into a decisive year. What seemed fixed and stable before is crumbling and in flux now. Millions of workers and youth are seeking to understand why. The revolutionary communists alone have clear answers. At this year’s International Workers’ Day protests on 1 May, we intervened in greater numbers than ever before with these answers. We include here a selection of reports that show how the revolutionary communists are beginning to turn the heads of a growing number of radicalised workers and youth.
1914, 1945, 1989, 2008, and now the year 2025: these are years that will be remembered as marking ‘before and after’ moments in the history of capitalism. As the system has reached a dead end, the world is lurching towards trade wars, remilitarisation, war and crisis.
The mood among the ruling class is everywhere one of the bleakest pessimism. They despair not only because they are economically bankrupt, but because they are politically bankrupt. Their regime, their parties, are increasingly hated by millions. Bourgeois democracy itself is increasingly in crisis.
Many so-called ‘lefts’ throw their hands up in despair because much of the anger building in the working class has been temporarily captured and expressed by right-wing demagogues. They despair about a ‘rightward shift’ among the working class. There is no such thing. The resurgence of what is called the ‘far right’ is itself a distorted expression of enormous anger bubbling away in society – a distorted expression that is only possible because the so-called ‘lefts’ themselves have woefully failed to give it a voice.
But there is another side to the equation: millions more have turned their backs on all of the parties of the ruling class, and there is a yearning among a growing layer of youth for a real, revolutionary alternative. In country after country, where the RCI signed up hundreds of new prospective members on 1 May, the reports below bear this out.
In the period to come, we can expect violent shifts of the political pendulum to the right and to the left. The communists are patiently yet energetically doing the work now to bring together, to organise, to train and educate this layer that is already seeking out revolutionary communism, so that in the future we can give a real leadership to the working class and a genuine expression to the anger that it feels.
At the congress this weekend of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), the British section of the RCI, political secretary of the RCP, Rob Sewell, quoted the very interesting words of a strategist of British capitalism who in a 2020 editorial of the Financial Times said the following:
“Since the global financial crisis, this sense of betrayal has fuelled a political backlash against globalisation and the institutions of liberal democracy. Rightwing populism may thrive on this backlash while leaving capitalist markets in place. But as it cannot deliver on its promises to the economically frustrated, it is just a matter of time before the pitchforks come out for capitalism itself, and for the wealth of those who benefit from it.”
The more astute strategists of capital can clearly see what we can see: beneath the surface, events are preparing an almighty swing to the left. “It is just a matter of time before the pitchforks come out for capitalism itself.” We agree, and we are preparing for that by organising the forces of communism now.
Click below to read the reports of where and how the sections of the Revolutionary Communist International were present and growing in rallies around the world on May Day 2025. And then: join us, and make 2025 the year you became organised in the struggle to overthrow capitalism.
Austria
This year’s 1 May comes in the midst of the biggest militarisation drive in Europe since the Second World War. The Austrian government of conservatives, the neoliberal NEOS and the Social Democracy (SPÖ), is planning an austerity package of billions.
The RCP participated in 19 rallies and events on 1 May across the country, spreading revolutionary optimism.
“Education not bombs! Get organised for the coming class struggles!” – this was the message that our candidates in the upcoming student elections delivered in several speeches at our events.
We sold 929 papers and €1,300 worth of literature. In total, we raised €1,800 more than last year. The collected money will be used to fund our annual revolutionary Pfingst-Seminar, as well as the speaking tour of a Yugoslav comrade who is touring several big universities this week.
Our growing political strength was also shown in the fact that we were present in two new regions compared to last year, in Klagenfurt and Salzburg – in addition to Vienna, Graz, Linz, Innsbruck, St. Pölten and Bregenz. In the latter, we also organised our own demonstration.
In Styria, a southern region where we have grown from one to six branches in the last year and a half, we held our first street party. The street party we hosted in Vienna was a great success and even bigger than last year.
Our revolutionary optimism and determination stand in stark contrast to the general mood that is being nurtured by the whole political establishment.
In order to prevent any sort of discontent rising, the whole establishment has waited before announcing specifics on the massive austerity package until after the important Vienna elections on 27 April 27 and May Day. For their part, the SPÖ attempted to depoliticise the mood and literally drown it in free beer at the May Day rally in Vienna.
Nevertheless, just before May Day, the fresh wind of class struggle arrived in Austria with protests to greet Serbian marathon runners – ambassadors for the huge revolutionary movement taking place there. They arrived in Graz on 28 April and in Vienna on 30 April.
The organisers in Vienna shamefully invited the Austrian foreign minister – the biggest NATO-fanatic! – to hold a speech while forbidding any Yugoslav flags or the distribution of political material. However, the real mood of the participants was shown by the fact we were able to sell 55 communist newspapers.
After this enthusiastic May Day intervention, we are now gearing up for the final phase of our campaign in the student elections taking place.
Canada
1 May 2025 was celebrated under the shadow of a looming trade war with the United States in Canada. This represents an existential crisis for Canadian capitalism. Businesses have already started to slash jobs to offload this crisis onto the backs of the workers, and the newly-elected Carney government plans to enact austerity measures.
In Québec, there is a strong tradition of May Day demonstrations, and this year the communists participated in full force. In Montréal, we organised a contingent of over 100 comrades, making us one of the biggest, if not the biggest, organised tendency there! Lately, the union movement in Québec has been jolted awake by the provincial CAQ government’s attempt to severely restrict the right to strike, and this was reflected in the biggest turnout in a number of years. There were also smaller demonstrations in Québec City and Ottawa, which we attended as well.
Despite the fighting mood, all major unions have fallen for the nationalist rhetoric of the ruling class, accepting the logic of class collaboration in the face of the trade war. This policy will be a disaster for workers: it’s not Trump who will lay off masses of workers in the coming period, but our ‘very own’ Canadian and Québécois bosses! The working class must be ready to face them. This is why we underlined the need for a class independent policy to save jobs.
We intervened on May Day with a forceful rejection of the nationalist framing of the trade war. American workers are our brothers and sisters in the fight against both gangs of capitalist robbers. At root, this trade war is an expression of the impasse of capitalism, and this is why we need to bring forward the only solution: world socialist revolution.
Our comrades talked with dozens of people throughout the event, and met many unorganized communists who we are now in discussion with. One particularly inspiring encounter was with a Ukrainian communist lady. She explained how she rejects both sides of the imperialist war in Ukraine, and said she and her friends were looking for the communists – and this is why she came directly to our tent.
Big battles are coming in Québec and Canada, as elsewhere, and the communist forces are growing in preparation.
Workers of all countries, unite!
Colombia
After two and a half years in power, Gustavo Petro’s reformist government has not been able to implement the programme for which he was brought into power by 11 million voters (the highest amount of votes received for a presidential candidate in Colombia’s history). The oligarchy’s campaign of sabotage has used all the means at its disposal to attack the president through a torrent of slander that no other president has had to face.
This sabotage campaign culminated with the eight senators shutting down a labor reform that would undo the austerity wage cuts implemented in 2002 by the Uribe presidency. At this latest measure of the oligarchy, Petro launched a campaign for a ‘popular consultation’ (a non-binding referendum that would bring key reform-related questions to the masses and then report the results to congress). The response from the masses has been one of the biggest May Day protests in the country’s history.
The communist revolutionaries in Colombia, organised under the banner of Colombia Marxista, marched in three cities: Bogotá, Cali and Bucaramanga. A total of 13 militants and five contacts marched through the country and sold 35 issues of Revolución Comunista (our homegrown publication), as well as other literature. On this basis, we obtained 22 contacts and 6 of them immediately came to meetings of our cells. Two of them plan to join the organisation over the next week.
The mood at the marches was very militant. In our conversations with many contacts and protesters, it became clear that people are looking for a way to fight against the oligarchy.
The task of the revolutionary communists through this period is to find that golden layer of youth and workers who are moving beyond reformism and help them build a revolutionary alternative that allows them to sweep the Colombia oligarchy that sells our workers and peasants in the world market for the cheapest price.
Czechoslovakia
In Czechoslovakia we held a public event in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We met at Železná studnička May Day monument, where Slovak workers celebrated 1 May for the first time in 1890. Slovak comrade made a speech about the history of May Day and then marched for two kilometres through the park complex before discussing perspectives for the world revolution.
We should say that we hadn’t intended to march at all, but as we walked in a group of 20 with red flags, random people asked if they could join us, and so we brought 26 people to our event! 26 is not a big number, but it is bigger than the May Day event we held last year, and the same size as the event held by the biggest Slovak trade union, KOZ, that day on the very same spot!
Compared to the May Day event organised by the Slovak Communist Party, which was probably the largest actually organised in Slovakia with 100 attending, our event was cheerful and optimistic, reflected in the quality of the discussion on the world situation.
As well as enjoying an enriching discussion, comrades enjoyed a barbecue and cooked sausages on a fire as speakers spoke. When the official discussion was over, there was time for a social, that lasted until the late hours.
This was our biggest public event that we have ever held. Every activity we have held recently shows that we are growing, and new milestones are being met, which has created a sense of momentum among comrades, pushing forward our growth.
May Day 2025 in Slovakia clearly showed that while the Stalinist and trade union bureaucracies are in a dead end, we represent the revolutionary future!
Denmark
1 May, International Workers Day, is a long-standing tradition in the Danish workers’ movement.
While the reformists have tried to turn this historic day into a depoliticised ‘people’s festival’, workers and young people are now looking to rekindle its revolutionary traditions. This year, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RKP) set out to connect with this growing desire to take up the fight against capitalism – and with great success.
For the first time ever, we took to the streets in the five largest cities across the country. In Copenhagen, we launched the day with an energetic demonstration, marching through the city, drawing in hundreds of participants under our red banners. As we reached the park where May Day is celebrated in Copenhagen, our chants rang out, people turned in awe at the strength of the communist presence.
While mainstream parties and trade unions only offered a watered-down apolitical 1 May, we stood out. Our space in the park featured a stage for revolutionary speakers and a large stall of Marxist literature, which sold over 230 books in the span of a few hours. This shows the thirst for Marxist theory among workers and youth.
Several thousand visited us throughout the day precisely because our event offered actual revolutionary politics. Every time a speaker took the stage, crowds gathered. We spoke about the collapse of the liberal world order, the betrayal and chauvinism of the Social Democrats, and the need for revolution in Denmark and internationally. Our speeches were met with loud applause. One worker told us: “You’re the only ones really talking about politics today – and the only ones who can give real answers.”
The same energy was present across the country. In Aarhus, our speeches also drew crowds, and one comrade’s interview with a major news outlet has gone viral on Instagram.
In total more than 100 people signed up to hear more about the RKP and to join the fight for communism! The opportunities for a rapid growth of the forces of communism across Denmark are better than ever, and we are taking advantage of them.
Our task in the Revolutionary Communist Party in the coming period is to ensure the next hundred become active in the struggle and are educated in the ideas of Marxism and Bolshevism.
After our show of force on 1 May, alarm bells should be ringing at the top of Danish society and among the ruling class, who long believed they had rid themselves of the spectre of communism. They could not be more mistaken – the communists are back, we are growing at lightning speed, and we will not stop until the working class is in power, and the capitalist system is a relic of the past.
El Salvador
In El Salvador, a dozen of us participated in two demonstrations that started very early in the morning, from the east of San Salvador city towards the Historic Centre. The first march was attended by around 10,000 people, and the second by around 5,000, including workers, young people, informal vendors and other sectors of society.
Participation was low compared to previous years (when 90,000 or 100,000 would participate), largely influenced by the fear Salvadorans live under in the Bukele regime. Although demonstrations are not usually openly repressed, there is subtle persecution of political activists.
The mechanisms enabled by the state of emergency established in 2022 are used under the pretext of the ‘war on gangs’, which restricts fundamental democratic rights. Thousands of people have been imprisoned, and in recent years the number of political prisoners has been on the rise.
It is common for the government to use the police to instill fear when there is a call for mobilisation, setting up checkpoints on public transport or spreading rumours of raids against demonstrators.
And yet, even under these oppressive conditions, we communists participate with our propaganda. We sold more than 100 copies of our newspaper El Comunista, with the slogan, “Against Bukele and capitalism, for the construction of the revolutionary party.”
In addition, we distributed 25 leaflets with a special article explaining the origins of the Bukele regime, which sold out and aroused great interest among those in attendance, along with several copies of books on revolutionary Marxism.
The reception given to our publications shows that there is a lively search for revolutionary answers. It is our duty to deepen this political work to organise the advanced sectors towards the construction of the revolutionary party that our class needs.
Finland
The Finnish comrades of RCI were out bright and early on the morning of 1 May. In Helsinki we were the first organisation at Hakaniemi square, right next to the building Lenin stayed in during his exile in Helsinki just before the October Revolution, with a book table full of quality Marxist material for sale.
An experienced comrade from the Pori branch in Western Finland travelled to the key city of Turku to help our comrade build there and guide them in how we approach outward facing activities.
The results of the day’s activities were better than in any previous year: in Helsinki we sold 52 papers, 21 books, six theoretical magazines and three pamphlets. In addition we sold 39 badges to help finance the revolution. We also took the details of four individuals who are interested in joining. Overall, we sold €600 of material in Helsinki.
In Turku, the weather was against us, but the resilient comrades still managed to sell material and take the details of those interested in joining.
In both cities we boldly participated in the march with hammer and sickle flags, and anti-imperialist slogans.
Meanwhile, in Vaasa a single comrade also distributed material.
In Helsinki we held a public meeting on imperialism and Finland’s role in it. The lead off was excellent, and so too was the discussion flowing from it. Our work continues in the determined, patient Bolshevist spirit. Quantity will turn into quality as we keep it up!
In addition to these concrete results, all comrades learned to better explain our political programme and theory to the masses and there were lessons for all aspects of our practical work. Overall, 19 comrades took part in May Day activities across Finland. We say:
Down with the Finnish bourgeoisie!
Onwards to the founding conference of the Finnish organisation in mid-May!
Onwards to the world proletarian revolution!
France
In France, we successfully participated in demonstrations organised in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, Lille, Nantes, Rennes, Caen, Saintes and Lannion. In all these cities, the comrades of the Parti Communiste Révolutionnaire tabled, worked through the crowds selling our newspaper, and argued for our party’s programme.
In total, over 300 copies of Révolution were sold, and nearly a hundred people left their contact details to join or to further discuss our ideas and programme. The sale of our political material – newspapers, theoretical magazines, books, pamphlets, etc. – amounted to more than €2,000. This very positive outcome highlights, once again, the growing interest among young people and workers in the ideas of Marxism.
The CGT estimated that there were 300,000 protesters on the demonstrations. This is slightly higher than last year (210,000) but far below the large-scale mobilisations against the pension reforms in 2023. The union leaders did nothing to frame this May Day as part of building a broader mobilisation against the Bayrou government and its anti-social policies. Our comrades explained in the demos why, without a clear perspective and strategy, May Day rarely mobilises beyond the ranks of political and trade union activists.
Germany
In order to shift the crisis onto the shoulders of the working class, the German ruling class is restricting democratic rights like freedom of speech and assembly. They are also currently talking about limiting the right to strike. We, the Revolutionary Communist Party in Germany, are actively fighting against these assaults.
Our comrades, Alyona and Leonard, are being persecuted for standing up against the genocide in Gaza at a demonstration. Adrian, who was charged for the same reason, recently had his case dropped. We know that we can win when we refuse to give in. But in order to be able to fight, we need the solidarity of the workers and youth on our side.
On May Day, we intervened in protests all over the country to collect donations for the legal fees of our comrades. The goal was to connect the cases our comrades face to the broader attacks on democratic rights. Everyone who wants to fight against the ruling class will face similar repression. That is why the workers’ movement needs to collectively rise up against each and every attempt to limit their rights, like the cases against our comrades.
With this appeal, we managed to collect over €2,500 on May Day alone. We also showed that there is a party in Germany that is taking the fight against capitalism seriously. We got the contact details of more than 70 people interested in joining or staying in touch with us, and sold over 180 newspapers. Our interventions were a big success thanks to the discussions on the political relevance of the cases against our comrades that we held in the weeks prior.
Greece
May Day 2025 took place amidst political crisis and instability for Greek capitalism and its government. On 26 January and 28 February, there were huge demonstrations in around 170 cities, towns and villages of Greece against the New Democracy government, which has tried to cover up the involvement of ministers and the prime minister himself in the Tempi train collision of 2023, which claimed 57 lives.
In the general strike and the mass demonstrations of 28 February, 2 million workers, young people and small shopkeepers participated. Their mood was full of anger against the government. Currently, the opinion polls give New Democracy just 20 to 25 percent!
However, the mass movement began to cool off after the first week of March. The leadership of the trade unions and the left-wing parties failed to immediately prepare a 48-hour political general strike in order to overthrow the government. Instead, they called for a 24-hours general strike on 9 April with only economical demands.
Thus, the government has been saved for now, and the movement has de-escalated. The participation in that strike on 9 April was thus miniscule. The behaviour of the union and left party leaders thus resulted in a May Day with the lowest participation in over 25 years.
Nevertheless, the Revolutionary Communist Organisation, the Greek section of RCI, intervened in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patra, selling our paper, Communist Revolution, and distributing leaflets. In Athens specifically, we had our own bloc with a banner, flags and slogans.
Ireland
This year, members of the Revolutionary Communists of Ireland intervened at the May Day rallies in Dublin and Belfast, where comrades reported a clear fighting mood among attendees. Across both marches, we sold 22 copies of the Revolutionary Communist and gathered contact details from six people interested in joining us in the fight for revolutionary communism.
After years of inflation and a deepening cost-of-living crisis, Ireland now faces the looming crossfire between American and European imperialism. The consequences could be devastating for a small country so dependent on these imperialist powers and caught – geographically, economically and politically – between them both. The Irish ruling class is already preparing fresh attacks on workers and youth. Anger is simmering beneath the surface, yet it finds no expression in the main political parties or the trade unions.
Thousands, even tens of thousands, are searching for a revolutionary alternative. The task of communists today is to recruit and integrate these layers into the revolutionary organisation, preparing them for the titanic clashes that lie ahead.
Every member of the Revolutionary Communists of Ireland is committed to this goal: to build the RCI in both the North and South, to revive the revolutionary traditions of the Irish working class, and to fight for a 32-county workers’ republic!
Italy
Our intervention this May Day in Italy was a rich and varied one. In the cities where demonstrations have been organised, we intervened with paper sales and with our own blocs, chanting revolutionary slogans whilst other blocs were silent, in Trieste and Varese, for instance.
We cannot mention every single city, but just to give a flavour: in Turin, where a very big demonstration traditionally takes place, we found great interest in our paper everywhere, with many seeking us out to ask for it. This was particularly evident among the youngest people, with six school students expressing their interest in the party and leaving their contacts.
In some cities, besides intervening in the demonstrations, we organised our own meetings. In Parma, for instance, we held a discussion on the relevance of the working class today after watching a film on the same subject.
In Rome and Milan we linked our May Day activities to the campaign we’re developing among workers in the logistics sector, such as at Amazon and UPS. We are denouncing the atrocious working conditions in the sector and connecting with workers willing to get organised.
In both Rome and Milan, we held day-long celebrations with food, music and a pleasant atmosphere, but also with political debates, in which hundreds of people participated. In Milan, the debate was brought to life by comrades working at UPS, a comrade working at Amazon who came from Florence, and by other comrades from Parma and other cities, where we’re developing this campaign.
We also took the opportunity to launch a new publication, Sand in the Gear, dedicated to the struggles of workers in the logistic sector, with an article on the working conditions in Amazon, an article on the Teamsters strike in Minneapolis in 1934 and the role played by the communists, and an article on our years of political work in UPS in Milan that lead to the building of a new branch of the party mainly composed of workers recruited from this work.
The week between the 25 April, the anniversary of the liberation from fascism, and May Day, is a very intense one in Italy. This was the first time we intervened in both protests as the PCR, which was founded just a few months ago but which can already be seen as a reference point by radicalised layers of workers and students, dozens of whom are getting involved after these successful interventions.
Mexico
This year’s mobilisation was the largest ever organised by the Mexican Marxists of the Revolutionary Communist International. We participated in protests in 16 cities across the country, distributing our newspaper Revolución Comunista, which is celebrating its first anniversary since its launch. Our most significant presence was in Mexico City, where 50 comrades marched alongside the student bloc and several trade unions.
We also had a notable presence in some of Mexico’s southern states. Particularly worthy of note was our contingent in Mérida, Yucatán, where 35 comrades sold 75 newspapers.
Similarly, in the northern region, we actively participated in multiple cities near the US border. In Hermosillo, Sonora, a group of six comrades – including both members and sympathisers – took part. For some, this was their first time engaging in such an activity, yet they successfully distributed 70 newspapers. We managed to recruit two new members by the end of the day.
In other states, our organisation has very young communist cells, some composed of contacts in the process of officially joining. This was the first time our group participated in the 1 May march in these areas, yet our comrades demonstrated courage by taking to the streets to promote our political programme.
We marched alongside workers, particularly in solidarity with the democratic teachers’ movement – currently fighting to defend their pensions – and the 40 Horas movement, which advocates reducing the working week from 48 to 40 hours, a cause we actively support. We also maintained close ties with groups opposing the Palestinian genocide and with madres buscadoras – mothers searching for their disappeared loved ones in a country where over 120,000 people remain missing.
All in all, the day showcased the growing strength of the forces of communism in Mexico and their potential for future expansion.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a country where 1 May is not an official holiday. Instead, the capitalist establishment focuses all its attention on promoting the king’s birthday a few days before on 27 April. Nevertheless, for a couple of years, the main trade union federation FNV has organised a national march, reflecting a revival of the class struggle.
Inflation, which peaked in 2022, has re-awakened the class struggle and led to a series of strikes to defend living standards. The latest victory was that of pharmacy assistants, who managed to gain a 20 percent wage increase over two years following 9 months of negotiations and strikes.
There are ongoing strikes at IKEA stores, and there will be a national higher education strike on 10 June, against education cuts by the right-wing government of Dick Schoof. The days when nothing happened in the Netherlands are coming to an end. The international situation, with Trump’s tariffs and the stagnation of the German economy, will have a big effect on the Dutch economy. The huge Tata Steel plant at IJmuiden recently announced its plans to lay off 1,600 workers – a fifth of the total. Turbulent times of class struggle lie ahead.
Revolutionaire Communisten, the Dutch group of the RCI, joined the national 1 May march in a sunny and warm Amsterdam, joining thousands of workers who had taken a day off from work. With 8 comrades and two sympathisers present, we enthusiastically spread the revolutionary ideas of the RCI and connected well with the militant mood of the march, which heard many anti-militarism and pro-Palestine chants.
Pakistan
This year, the Inqalabi Communist Party (RCP) in Pakistan organised May day activities across the country with revolutionary zeal. The party organised and participated in May Day activities in more than 24 cities in total.
In Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Loralai, Sajawal, D.G.Khan, Bahawalpur, Pattoki, Gilgit, Peshawar, Buner, Lower Dir, D.I.Khan activities were organised under the banner of RCP, while in several other cities comrades of the RCP intervened in May Day rallies and protests.
The party published around 6,000 copies of a special poster for May Day this year, which was pasted in industrial areas and main crossings of all main cities across the country. A special issue of the monthly paper, Communist, was also published and sold in the course of these activities while a special podcast was published on YouTube.
In all the activities that the comrades of the party participated in, we condemned the anti-working class policies of the government, which is slavishly following the dictates of the IMF and privatising all government hospitals, schools and colleges across the country, while hundreds of thousands of public sector workers are being thrown out of their jobs.
Trade union organisations are under severe attack, and labour rights have been sabotaged by one government after another in this country. Today, workers have to work more than 14 hours a day for meagre wages, which is not even enough for the survival of a single person. The government has announced Rs. 37,000 ($132) as a minimum wage per month for an unskilled worker working eight hours a day, but workers usually work for more than 14 hours a day and get mere to Rs. 20,000 ($71) per month.
Most workers have jobs without any contract and can be hired or fired at the whim of the manager. Similarly, unemployment has reached unprecedented levels, and every year around one to two million workers leave the country, legally or illegally, for better opportunities. Some drown in the Mediterranean or are killed crossing borders in the process.
But the ruling elite doesn’t care about this, and is attacking the people with new price hikes, privatisations and wage cuts. Meanwhile, the salaries of parliamentarians and ministers have been raised by more than a hundred percent, and the profits of multinationals, banks and other industrialists have reached new heights.
The loot and plunder of the generals, judges and bureaucrats has also exceeded all limits, while all political parties on the horizon are corrupt to the core and partners in crime of the ruling class. In this situation, the working class has no other option but to move forward towards a general strike and prepare for a socialist revolution to overthrow this brutal capitalist system.
RCP also condemned the new wave of war-mongering by the ruling class of Pakistan and India, which has brought these nuclear powers to the brink of another war. Only the working class of both India and Pakistan can defeat the ruling classes of their own countries and end terrorism, national oppression and, ultimately, this capitalist system and regimes once and for all. This is the only way forward, towards ending these wars and bringing permanent peace to this region.
This message of the RCP was welcomed by workers and students everywhere, and many asked to join the RCP to help build the party in order to further this noble cause.
Poland
As usual, this May Day we organised our May School in Warsaw. This was preceded by an intervention at the protests and a major paper sale. This year, with the left fractured and divided across several rallies and demonstrations, we decided not to pick and choose just one, but to intervene in all these events, with simultaneous presence in the city centre with our papers, In Defence of Marxism magazine, and other materials.
This proved to be a huge success, with almost 50 copies of our latest issue sold! We managed to gather around 20 contacts, 17 of which attended our May School. There were cases where people joined us on our way to the demonstration, and then followed us to the school. We are steadily becoming a focal point for the revolutionary youth!
This was a huge test for our flexibility in tactics, and our comrades proved to be extremely well organised and up to the task. We were the only organisation with a presence virtually everywhere, and we were able to find many young people eager to change the world. Our comrades, with openly revolutionary papers and slogans, are a unique sight on the streets.
Our May School is our main nationwide education event, and this year’s event was centered around anti-imperialism. The sessions included world perspectives and the nature of imperialism, our methods of fighting it, European imperialism and the Ukraine war, capitalist barbarism in the Middle East, and finally a talk on how the workers are going to pay the price for Poland’s imperialist and militarist policies.
The talks were sharp and educational, with every lead-off followed by a string of contributions, including from younger comrades. This was a real Marxist school, filled with an electrifying mood, clarity of thought and singularity of purpose – that of overthrowing capitalism! This was proved in practice when we managed to break every record this year – in terms of attendance, activity, as well as fund raising.
We have proved that revolutionary communism is the only way to understand the world today, and Marxists are the only ones who can explain and give answers to the workers and youth. Now is the time to make sure we can turn this year’s success into the solid foundations for the revolutionary communist party in Poland!
Sweden
This May Day, the RKP in Sweden intervened in nine cities across the country under the slogan May Day against racism and warmongering! Down with capitalism! In total, we sold more than 500 copies of our newspaper and 77 people signed up to join the party.
“You say what no one else dares to say,” said a listener from the suburb of Bergsjön after our rally in Gothenburg. The same sentiment was expressed throughout the country, and it is not surprising.
The Social Democrats have embraced the racist policies of the Sweden Democrats, and the Left Party sounds more and more like the Social Democrats, and less and less like a real alternative.
The Left Party’s demonstrations, while shrinking each year, still attracted thousands. But the lack of enthusiasm was evident everywhere. What slogans are there to rally around when the party says one thing and does another? In Malmö, they shouted, “Not a soldier, not a gun, not a penny for NATO’s military!” while the party supports spending more money on the Swedish military – which is now part of NATO!
In contrast to the pessimism of the so-called left, our comrades were told: “You are the only ones who are optimistic”, and “It’s great to see so many young people here.”
“I want to make a revolution against our politicians!” said one participant at our rally in Karlstad, and in Stockholm, our own rally attracted a crowd of 80 people, with comrades selling 245 papers over the day.
The same enthusiasm was evident throughout the country: in Umeå, Gothenburg, Malmö, Helsingborg and Karlstad, where we are already established, as well as in places where we have never held May Day demonstrations before. In Karlshamn, which some people would dismiss as a sleepy little town where the Sweden Democrats get a lot of votes, our comrades intervened for the first time and sold books for 700 SEK! In Borås, four people signed up to join the party, and in Norrköping, one comrade managed to sell three papers.
The great interest in revolutionary ideas shows that there has never been a better time to be a communist!
Switzerland
One year after the founding of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Switzerland, Swiss communists participated in May Day rallies across the seven major cities of the country, spanning all three linguistic regions.
The banners in our blocs and the front page of our newspaper bore the slogan: “Against Armament and Tariff Wars: We Will Not Pay for Your Crisis!” This uncompromising class stance resonated with a broad layer of radicalised youth – many attending a May Day rally for the first time – who can feel the crisis of the left and the lack of answers to the dramatic global situation. They are open to communist ideas, and many were ready to get organised!
Spain
In the Spanish section of the RCI known, Organización Comunista Revolucionaria, our comrades intervened in three major cities: in Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao.
In Madrid, 10 comrades intervened in the main march that heads up Gran Vía, the main shopping street in the capital, organised by the two principal trade unions: the UGT and CCOO. Around 15,000 workers were on the march, including a mix of trade unionists, political parties such as Podemos and Sumar, and smaller sects such as PCTE.
The atmosphere was positive but not particularly combative, with most protesters marching in organised blocs. We were able to interact with a lot of people and made some contacts with high school students and other youth. We were also able to sell plenty of material as our paper connected with the questions many have over Trump’s tariffs, and included interviews with worker comrades about their poor labour conditions. Most of the comrades who intervened are very new and young, and their enthusiasm was noticeable.
In Barcelona, 8 comrades also intervened in the main march organised by CCOO and UGT. The other smaller trade unions tend to organise their own separate march at a different time or location in most regional capitals, but our comrades decided to go to the main one as there tend to be more unorganised participants who are open to discussing our ideas with us.
In this instance there was a notable presence from the workers of Freixenet, a sparkling wine producer, the workers of which are currently on furlough. There was also a presence from foreign left-wing political parties, anti-fascist, ecologist and feminist groups. The comrades were able to sell a lot of material both in Catalan and in Castilian Spanish, as the comrades produce their own paper and translate a lot of the most relevant articles in order to connect better with Catalan workers.
Finally, in Bilbao, 17 comrades intervened in protests in three cities where we have comrades in the Basque Country: in Bilbao, San Sebastián (Donosti) and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The comrades intervened with determination in the multiple protest marches organised in the city from 11am until 2pm.
The labour movement is very fractured, with Basque trade unions in addition to the main trade unions, and other smaller national trade unions present in the rest of the country. There were a variety of slogans at each march relating to the fight for a minimum wage, pensions, against war and militarism, and defending the gains made in the past.
In the march organised by CCOO, UGT and the Basque trade union ELA, there was a bloc of workers from Bridgestone, the tyre company, who are on strike and who are also furloughed. The workers from Bridgestone participated in the march with their families, with everyone wearing the Bridgestone uniform.
There were a few thousand at each march, and the comrades were able to sell a large amount of material. At the end of the day, the comrades intervened in a protest organised by the Socialist Movement, which would ordinarily restrict us from selling our own material, although we went ahead and found many willing to buy our material.
Taiwan
This year’s May Day workers’ march in Taiwan adopted the theme, ‘Bosses: Stop Bullying Workers, We Demand Protections’, addressing the urgent issues facing the working class, including long working hours, retirement concerns for older workers, staffing shortages in healthcare, and the right for public servants to form unions.
Comrades from The Spark (the RCI in Taiwan) joined the march with our demands and material. We participated in the May Day Action Alliance’s planning meetings from the outset. On the day, all the leaflets we printed were distributed to participants.
Many attendees, including union members and grassroots activists from other organisations or small parties, engaged with us and generally responded positively to our work. During the march, we chanted slogans including: “More Bank Holidays, Better Workplace Safety,” and “No illusion in the government, workers must save themselves!”
Our mobilisation included over 15 comrades and sympathisers, a record participation for our organisation. Many people marched with us under the clear banner of revolutionary communism – a result of the collective efforts of all comrades. We believe we are rapidly approaching the day when we can form the Revolutionary Communist Party of Taiwan.
Long live International Workers’ Day!
Workers of the world, unite!
United States
The American ruling class goes to great lengths to blind American workers from our own history. Despite the fact that International Workers’ Day originated in the struggle for the eight-hour day right here at home, normally this revolutionary holiday passes by unnoticed. Believe it or not, the USA has not one but two alternate holidays to May Day, aptly titled Loyalty Day and Law Day. According to the yearly – yes, yearly – Presidential proclamation commemorating this ‘holiday’, the day celebrates (don’t laugh) the ‘rule of law in a free society’!
This year, however, there was a noticeable change in the air. Between the inflation, endless wars, natural disasters, opioid epidemic, childhood poverty, increasing unemployment, cultural decay, and general decline, workers can see for themselves that capitalist law defends nothing but the freedom of a tiny minority to exploit the vast majority. That explains why thousands showed up to this year’s demonstrations in city after city.
As expected, plenty of liberals were there to greet them with milquetoast appeals to vote for the Democrats. But unexpected (to some), the Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA) was there as well – with a highly visible and a loud and proud revolutionary message! RCA communists organised contingents in 15 cities: in New York, San Diego, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Denver, Atlanta, Phoenix, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Boston, and even small towns like Columbia, South Carolina and Boise, Idaho (which had a rally of 1,000)!
A standout example was in Philadelphia. While Bernie Sanders appealed to the crowd to line up behind the next ‘lesser evil’, the Philadelphia RCA formed the most enthusiastic, most militant, and best organised bloc of the May Day march. Our revolutionary chants echoed through the streets and were picked up by the surrounding crowd:
“1-2-3-4, we declare class war!”
“Nothing to lose – but our chains!”
“There is only one solution! Communist revolution!”
“The workers, united, will never be defeated!”
More than 75 people signed up to join the RCA, and we sold more than 175 copies of The Communist. In the span of a few hours, the crowd at May Day bought $1,100 worth of communist ideas in the form of newspapers, books, and pamphlets.
In Chicago, comrade Austin addressed a crowd of over 10,000. More communists addressed the crowd in Boston and Seattle. In New York, Philadelphia, and Phoenix, our comrades made the local news. In San Diego, our union members led their march’s chants.
In city after city, the RCA is growing. And we need you to fight the class war. Join us!
