May Day is International Workers' Day!

For the international communist movement and all progressive social forces the world over, May Day is a day of struggle, remembrance, and celebration, both for those who came before us as well as those who continue the struggle today. May Day is a time to demonstrate that for the workers and oppressed peoples of the world, solidarity transcends all borders. May Day is an occasion for us to celebrate the struggles, sacrifices, and achievements of our class and all oppressed peoples. This day is rooted in a long and still unfolding history of working people struggling to liberate themselves and others from the shackles of exploitation and oppression, most notably in the Haymarket Rebellion of 1886 in Chicago. On May 1, 1886, thousands of workers went on strike and organized demonstrations to demand an eight-hour working day. On May 4, at a rally held in Chicago's Haymarket Square, the police arrested and convicted eight of the revolutionary leaders of the rebel workers, five of whom were executed. Since then, this day has been marked to commemorate the liberation struggle of the exploited and oppressed. On this May Day in particular, we emphasize the courageous resistance of the Palestinian people who yearn for liberation. Their struggle is our struggle.

CounterPower recognizes the importance of militant collective action to overthrow capitalist-imperialism in all its manifestations, which includes not only class exploitation, but also heteropatriarchy, settler-colonialism, and white supremacy. The international working class will be a central protagonist in the process of building a world free of exploitation and oppression. Socialist revolution is the only way to achieve real freedom, peace, and justice for humanity. Socialism aims to establish the foundations of a society in which social production and reproduction are organized rationally and democratically in order to satisfy human needs, develop human capacities in an all-round way, and defend our planetary ecosystem.

As the Palestinian people fiercely resist the settler-colonial Zionist occupation and all attempts by global imperialism to annihilate their people and culture, we reflect on the powerful student movements which united with workers in support of the Vietnamese people's national liberation struggle in the last century. This student-worker unity formed a powerful revolutionary force in opposition to U.S. imperialism's genocidal war. Today, we should rekindle worker-student alliances, build the revolutionary united front, and advance the people's movement towards socialism.

At the present historical conjuncture, we must continue to marshal the militant collective action of the international working class and all oppressed peoples in defense of Palestine against the settler-colonial Zionist project of Israel, propped-up by U.S. imperialism. The international communist movement and all progressive social forces have a duty to unite in rebellion against imperialism's genocidal project. We celebrate, honor, and support the righteous resistance of the students rebelling against the imperialist war machine and in support of Palestinian national liberation across the country. It is our view that national democratic revolutions, including the national liberation struggle being waged in Palestine today, can and must be united with the international proletarian class struggle. Decolonization is inseparable from the world socialist revolution.

From western Africa to Haiti to Ukraine, imperialism continues to spread its vile tentacles throughout the world. In western Africa, U.S. imperialism is constructing new drone bases in Benin, the Ivory Coast, and Ghana in support of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), whose purpose is to secure monopoly-finance capital's control of African land, resources, and labor by military means. The United States, France, and Canada are attempting to destabilize Haiti in order to prepare for imperialist intervention there. The Russia-Ukranian War continues to unfold, with the competing imperialist powers unleashing horrific violence upon the peoples of that region. However, capitalist-imperialism is also being met with the people's revolutionary resistance in the Philippines, India, Rojava and elsewhere. CounterPower offers our ongoing support for these revolutionary struggles.

Within the imperial core, we support the resurgence of the labor movement, exemplified by the renewal of the United Auto Workers, the organizing campaigns led by the Association of Flight Attendants, and an increasingly combative mood felt among rank-and-file workers engaged in class struggle on the shop floor. We should encourage and support these efforts, while working to advance the labor movement in an internationalist and revolutionary direction. Examples of international class solidarity such as the formation of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire are important developments, but we need to redouble our efforts to build U.S. working-class support for the liberation of Palestine and all oppressed peoples. There have been numerous examples internationally of workers refusing to transport cargo bound for Israel, and we should emulate, escalate, and intensify such international solidarity actions against the imperialist war machine here in the U.S. With this revolutionary internationalist praxis in mind, we believe communists and revolutionaries must also organize and support the struggle to demilitarize the U.S. border with Mexico, resist the development of border fascism, and defend at every opportunity the rights of migrants, refugees, and the undocumented.

The ruling class will noisily talk of their election in the U.S. this year, but it should be noted that humanity has no interest in the business-as-usual imperialism of Biden, or the blatant white supremacist fascism of Trump. For the working class and all oppressed peoples, the only way forward is a revolutionary rupture with the bankrupt politics of the bourgeoisie, and the establishment of socialism throughout the world. We unite in struggle against the attempted creation of Cop City outside Atlanta and elsewhere as expressions of the growing authoritarian face of capitalist-imperialist which aims to expand the carceral system. We also stand against the reactionaries unleashing a torrent of anti-queer, anti-trans, and anti-abortion legislation aiming to drive back the progress that queer and trans liberation and feminist struggles have won. CounterPower stands in full support of queer and trans liberation, and we are firmly committed to revolutionary feminism and the liberation struggle of LGBTQ+ people and women, while recognizing that we must challenge gender and sexual chauvinism as it arises in our own movement, organization, and everyday lives.

May Day 2024 - International Worker' Day - should be a day that we direct the class struggle against every manifestation of material support for the criminal imperialist war machine of the U.S. and Israel, and unite the working class in firm solidarity with the national liberation struggle of Palestine and all oppressed peoples of the world.

In the words of Rosa Luxemburg: “As long as the struggle of the workers against the bourgeoisie and the ruling class continues, as long as all demands are not met, May Day will be the yearly expression of these demands. And, when better days dawn, when the working class of the world has won its deliverance then too humanity will probably celebrate May Day in honor of the bitter struggles and the many sufferings of the past.”

On this day we grieve for the comrades, friends, and family we have lost in struggle, for the still exploited and oppressed masses still suffering under the boot of capitalist-imperialism, and we express our total commitment to advancing the struggle and deepening our resolve to abolish the imperialist world-system and achieve communism. Today, we offer our most heartfelt expression of solidarity with all the workers and oppressed peoples of the world.

We must raise our militancy and pluck up our courage as we face the exploiters and oppressors who enable, benefit from, and defend the global system of capitalist-imperialism. CounterPower honors the revolutionary fighters of the past, and seeks to unite with all who wish to make revolution in our lifetime and build the world commune of communes. Workers of the world, unite! We have nothing to lose but our chains. We have a world to win.

From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!

Stop Cop City!

Full Queer and Trans Liberation Now!

Abortion on Demand and Without Apology!

Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win!

It is Right to Rebel Against Imperialism!