On May 1st walkouts at schools and workplaces across the US will take place in solidarity with immigrant com- munities under attack by Congressional legislation. These walkouts invoke the powerful tradition of May Day - the socialist celebration of international working class solidarity. Once again US immigrants are taking a leadership role in the struggle for social and economic justice, just as they did at the birth of May Day in Chicago a hundred and twenty years ago. The Socialist Party USA joins in the celebration of May Day and condemns the Democratic and Republican Parties for militarizing our borders and failing to protect the rights of all workers. Callous and ineffectual immigration policies are exacerbating racism in the US and creating an underclass of super-exploited workers, all in the service of corporate profits. The Socialist Party furthermore rejects assimilationist policies and attitudes which marginalize and criminalize the diverse heritages of immigrants and people of color.
Experience teaches us that only militant industry-wide labor action can challenge corporate power and win better wages, hours and working conditions. Nevertheless, the global inequalities that compel migrants to seek risky, back-breaking, low wage labor in the US cannot be resolved within the constraints of modern capitalism. In the tradition of May Day we call for the abolition of capitalist systems of ownership and trade, and the creation of a truly democratic society where production fulfills human need, not profit. In a world riddled with war and underdevelopment, we also add racism, militarism and imperialism to the list of global cancers which must be uprooted as prerequisites to peace and justice.
The Socialist Party encourages all members and affiliates to take part in the May Day call for “No Work, No School, No Buying, No Selling” and for members and affiliates to take part in local May Day actions.
A list of actions can be found on the Socialist Party USA website www.sp-usa.org [1] and on http://www.nohr4437.org/ [2].
In New York City:
May 1st: Working People's Day means CALL IN SICK! Enjoy a sunny day out and meet in Union Square at four PM with several thousand close friends. This year we declare that NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL!
Also In New York City:
Members of the SP-NYC will be joining in this march and action against Guantánamo.
Condemning Torture and Demanding Justice for Those Imprisoned at Guantánamo! Noon March to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
WE APPEAL TO JOHN BOLTON, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to join a growing global consensus and support the UN's call to Shut Down Guantánamo.
PLEASE JOIN US
SCHEDULE OF THE DAY
10:00 am Interfaith Prayer Service, 777 UN Plaza
11:30 am Press Conference, 777 UN Plaza
12 Noon March to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations
Our solemn and prayerful procession will begin at the Isaiah Wall (First Avenue and 43rd street) and continue to the U.S. Mission to the UN (140 East 45th Street at Lexington). We will carry the names of prisoners being tortured in violation of every law- national, international, religious and moral.
At the U.S. Mission, our interfaith ceremony will witness, mourn and condemn torture.
Sharing the prisoners' stories and reading from our faith traditions, we will occupy the U.S. Mission's Plaza, refusing to leave until Bolton commits to supporting the UN High Commission on Human Rights' demands to shut down Guantánamo.
We will have a legal demonstration area on the north side of 45th street.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE:
Please contact Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424, Daloisio@earthlink.net or Frida Berrigan, 347-683-4928, Frida.Berrigan@gmail.com
There will be a nonviolence training Sunday, April 30th at 3 pm in the South Hall Room of Riverside Church at 490 Riverside Drive New York, New York 10027. RSVP to one of the above email addresses. Details of this event, organized under the auspices of Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq (CALC-I), will be posted and updated at www.unitedforpeace.org/faith
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