MAY DAY, MAY 1, is internationally celebrated as an international workers' day, a time of special attention to solidarity with struggles at home and overseas.
At home, of course, the British workers' movement stands at a historic low point, bound into a vicious straitjacket of Tory legislation which effectively illegalises strike action, and saddled with trade union and Labour leaders who almost to a person have distanced themselves from any concept of class struggle or socialism.
As the Major government turns the screw, freezing wages, raising taxes and attacking the foundations of the British welfare state, the workers' movement remains paralysed.
But the word Mayday (from the French 'm'aidez' - help me) is also an international distress call. And May 1 this year finds possibly more workers and poor peasants than ever before in serious distress. The need for practical and political solidarity, for genuine socialist internationalism, has never been greater.
Despite the fact that tens of millions already unemployed and hundreds of millions of men and women are condemned to miserably low-paid part-time work, there is a world-wide attack on jobs, pay, and working conditions.
Competition
Employers are being driven into this onslaught by the growing competition of the capitalist market system.
The same pressures mean that the collapse of Stalinist rule in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR has opened up a new offensive against the jobs and living standards of the working class, as the new ruling bureaucrats attempt to create conditions for a restoration of capitalism.
Competition for scarce resources creates increasingly obvious splits and conflicts within and between recession-ridden capitalist countries - increasingly dividing into mutually hostile trading blocs.
It also drives brutal wedges between the interlocking nations and peoples in the no-man's land of Eastern Europe, and spurs on equally bitter and bloody conMILLIONS of people will get services. the chance to give John Major's government and local Tories a bloody nose in the council elections on May 5.
A strong Labour vote can refrontations in the forgotten territories of the 'third world'. After the wanton massacre of 100,000 Iraqis by US fire-power flying UN banners, we were told that a 'new world order' had been established, offering peace and stability. This was always a lie, and beyond the headlines, and outside the spheres of influence of any of the imperialists, other savage wars continued to take a horrendous toll: in Mozambique, Angola and Sudan ruinous wars have brought economic activity to a near standstill. May Day 1994 takes place in the shadow of the brute horror of rampant racism and nationalism triggering the slaughter of 100,000 in two weeks in Rwanda, and the continuing carnage unleashed by Serbian aggression as a merciless Stalinist regime seeks to complete the imperialist-sanctioned carve-up of Bosnia by blitzing helpless enclaves previously disarmed by ... the United Nations. But while the European Union bleats hypocritical protests against Serbian 'ethnic cleansing', its own member governments are implementing the scandalous Schengen agreement, aimed at slamming the door on potential immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. EnSmith's team has made it as hard as possible to rally support for Labour. Nationally, Smith appears to have been doing a jobshare with the Invisible Man, while side-kicks like Jack Straw couraged by this, and feeding from the frustration of downtrodden sections of youth and workers, the racist and fascist right wing is growing in size and confidence, mounting violent attacks on black and minority communities.
European governments, notably Britain in Ireland, and Turkey in Kurdistan, continue to repress the struggle for national self- determination. And despite the promise of peace in exchange for the treacherous deal signed by PLO leader Arafat, Israel's Zionist regime metes out harsh repression as the only means to maintain its settler state on Palestinian territory.
Partial victories
But May Day 1994 can also register some historic gains and partial victories, and pointers to future struggles.
• In South Africa, the end of apartheid has been signalled by the first non-racial elections. Millions of blacks have won the vote as a result of the courageous defiance, sacrifice and struggle of generations of black militants who have risked violence, torture, prison and death to fight for freedom. Now a new phase of the struggle will open up in which the remnants of racist rule, and the exploitation of capitalism must be challenged by the black working class.
• In East Timor, despite the genocidal repression by the Indonesian government, the guerrilla fighters of FRETILIN continue their struggle for • In Brazil, opinion polls show 'Lula', the presidential candidate of the Workers Party as the front runner for the elections to come this autumn: his election would again open up a new stage in the struggle of the Brazilian working class.
• In the USA, the giant Teamsters union, for decades almost synonymous with the mob, violence and corruption, is flexing its muscles under a newly-elected leadership, defying anti-union laws and winning strikes against employers.
• In Britain, thousands of workers -college lecturers, Sheffield council staff, and now Liverpool postal workers - have so far taken strike action in defiance of the latest anti-union laws: teachers have rebuffed Tory plans for education. Antiracist campaigns, including the campaign to close the Campsfield detention centre, are growing.
• In France, the far left is playing a key role in mobilising campaigns against unemployment and for a 35-hour week, while youth and students have beaten back the Balladur government's attempts to slash the wages of young workers.
• And across Europe sections of the Fourth International and other organisations have joined forces in a massive solidarity effort for Bosnia under the banner of International Workers Aid, delivering lorry-loads of supplies to beleagured Tuzla where they are distributed by unions.
This year the IWA has been invited to send a representative to the May Day celebrations in Sarajevo.
Class struggle, socialist politics and workers' solidarity are not dead: but this spirit and tradition must be defended against new and dangerous pressures. That is the task which the Fourth International is proud to undertake.
In sending our May Day greetings to all those fighting oppression and exploitation across the world, Socialist Outlook commits itself to a fresh year of struggle for solidarity and internationalism.