Today isn't just a holiday - today is the International Day of Struggle
of the Working Class. A day that reminds us that our rights were never
given to us. They were fought for - by people like you and me. People
took to the streets, were arrested, or shot for them. ---- A day that
reminds us: Our rights are the result of organizing, resistance, and
countless struggles against the ruling class. The eight-hour day, the
right to strike, and continued payment of wages - these aren't gifts,
but victories against the logic of profit. And these very victories are
under attack again today.
The CDU/CSU government is preparing to abolish working hours - under the
guise of "flexibilization." Employers should be able to agree with
employees on when and how long they work - in reality, this means: more
work. More stress. Less protection.
While the eight-hour day must now be defended, for many people this
"standard" has never been a reality. Millions work multiple jobs,
temporary, precarious - often not by choice, but by necessity. Women,
INTA* people (intersex, non-binary, trans & agender), migrants, and
queer people in particular work in sectors that are lower paid, more
insecure, and often invisible: care, cleaning, education, assistance,
retail, and catering. These are jobs without which our society cannot
function - yet they receive little recognition. Those who do this work
often live close to the poverty line - even with full-time employment.
Added to this is a higher proportion of unpaid care work - cooking,
caring, and looking after children, relatives, partners, and neighbors.
This work holds our lives together. Yet it is not treated as work - but
as a "natural role." And it is barely reflected in statistics,
collective bargaining agreements, or public debate.
Prices are rising, wages are not. You work more, but have less to spare.
Whether you're a salesperson, a caregiver, a warehouse worker, or in an
office, you notice it every day. Rent, food, energy-everything is
getting more expensive, while the rich are getting richer. And what is
the government doing?
As always, the government isn't improving the situation. On the
contrary: While billions are flowing into armaments and corporations,
social benefits are being cut. Basic child benefits have been reduced to
a minimum. Citizens' income is being sanctioned. Migration is being
criminalized. Anti-queer attacks are increasing, partly because
right-wing rhetoric has long since entered the political center. The
traffic light government and the CDU-SPD coalition are using racist
narratives, focusing on downplaying and dividing, while the AfD is
increasingly openly inciting hatred-against the poor, against migrants,
against queers, against feminists. And increasingly, these attacks are
taking place in the open streets-with violence, with consent, with
frightening normality.
The right-wing mobilization is no coincidence. It is the result of a
political vacuum that arose because left-wing alternatives were too
rarely concrete, combative, or visible. The unions also bear their share
of responsibility here. Although there have been labor disputes in
recent years - for example, at the postal service, at the railway, or in
the social and educational services - these were often not conducted
consistently. Instead of building solidarity and strengthening their own
base, many union leaders rely on symbolic actions, short warning
strikes, or compromises that fall below the inflation rate. While the
reality of life for many colleagues is characterized by precarious
contracts, overtime, psychological stress, and structural
discrimination, large parts of the unions appear like cumbersome
apparatuses that operate far removed from the needs of their members.
Decisions are made from the top, rather than with the rank and file.
Large sections of the union leadership have come to terms with the
status quo - with co-management, with the logic of location, with
"social partnership."
We can't trust the state and capitalism; we must start organizing
collectively-in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our networks,
otherwise nothing will change. The state won't save us. Elections won't
fix it. The crisis is real-and it affects us in different ways. But
that's precisely why we need common responses.
Organizing begins where we are. Solidarity begins where we live.
Feminism begins where we decide to no longer fight alone.
This May 1st belongs to us, those without a lobby. To all those who have
to function every day under terrible conditions. To all those who fight
against exploitation, against division, against patriarchal power
relations. We have to do it ourselves. Together from below.
Let's unite our struggles. For a good life for all - not for a few. For
a society where work doesn't make us sick. For a world where solidarity
is the foundation, not profit. Let's organize in our workplaces - but
also beyond them! Let's fight for co-determination where we work, live,
love, and fight! Let's transform our unions - from passive
administrative bodies to active, grassroots democratic tools for class
struggle!
Let's ask feminist questions! Who does unpaid work? Who becomes
invisible in the system? Whose concerns count - and whose don't? Let's
be uncomfortable - in solidarity with care workers, with strikers, with
people in precarious jobs, with queer youth, with migrants at the borders!
Let's become collective again. Loud. Uncomfortable. In solidarity.
https://ruhr.dieplattform.org/2025/04/29/1-mai-heisst-nicht-feiern-was-wir-haben-sondern-erkaempfen-was-wir-brauchen/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
of the Working Class. A day that reminds us that our rights were never
given to us. They were fought for - by people like you and me. People
took to the streets, were arrested, or shot for them. ---- A day that
reminds us: Our rights are the result of organizing, resistance, and
countless struggles against the ruling class. The eight-hour day, the
right to strike, and continued payment of wages - these aren't gifts,
but victories against the logic of profit. And these very victories are
under attack again today.
The CDU/CSU government is preparing to abolish working hours - under the
guise of "flexibilization." Employers should be able to agree with
employees on when and how long they work - in reality, this means: more
work. More stress. Less protection.
While the eight-hour day must now be defended, for many people this
"standard" has never been a reality. Millions work multiple jobs,
temporary, precarious - often not by choice, but by necessity. Women,
INTA* people (intersex, non-binary, trans & agender), migrants, and
queer people in particular work in sectors that are lower paid, more
insecure, and often invisible: care, cleaning, education, assistance,
retail, and catering. These are jobs without which our society cannot
function - yet they receive little recognition. Those who do this work
often live close to the poverty line - even with full-time employment.
Added to this is a higher proportion of unpaid care work - cooking,
caring, and looking after children, relatives, partners, and neighbors.
This work holds our lives together. Yet it is not treated as work - but
as a "natural role." And it is barely reflected in statistics,
collective bargaining agreements, or public debate.
Prices are rising, wages are not. You work more, but have less to spare.
Whether you're a salesperson, a caregiver, a warehouse worker, or in an
office, you notice it every day. Rent, food, energy-everything is
getting more expensive, while the rich are getting richer. And what is
the government doing?
As always, the government isn't improving the situation. On the
contrary: While billions are flowing into armaments and corporations,
social benefits are being cut. Basic child benefits have been reduced to
a minimum. Citizens' income is being sanctioned. Migration is being
criminalized. Anti-queer attacks are increasing, partly because
right-wing rhetoric has long since entered the political center. The
traffic light government and the CDU-SPD coalition are using racist
narratives, focusing on downplaying and dividing, while the AfD is
increasingly openly inciting hatred-against the poor, against migrants,
against queers, against feminists. And increasingly, these attacks are
taking place in the open streets-with violence, with consent, with
frightening normality.
The right-wing mobilization is no coincidence. It is the result of a
political vacuum that arose because left-wing alternatives were too
rarely concrete, combative, or visible. The unions also bear their share
of responsibility here. Although there have been labor disputes in
recent years - for example, at the postal service, at the railway, or in
the social and educational services - these were often not conducted
consistently. Instead of building solidarity and strengthening their own
base, many union leaders rely on symbolic actions, short warning
strikes, or compromises that fall below the inflation rate. While the
reality of life for many colleagues is characterized by precarious
contracts, overtime, psychological stress, and structural
discrimination, large parts of the unions appear like cumbersome
apparatuses that operate far removed from the needs of their members.
Decisions are made from the top, rather than with the rank and file.
Large sections of the union leadership have come to terms with the
status quo - with co-management, with the logic of location, with
"social partnership."
We can't trust the state and capitalism; we must start organizing
collectively-in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our networks,
otherwise nothing will change. The state won't save us. Elections won't
fix it. The crisis is real-and it affects us in different ways. But
that's precisely why we need common responses.
Organizing begins where we are. Solidarity begins where we live.
Feminism begins where we decide to no longer fight alone.
This May 1st belongs to us, those without a lobby. To all those who have
to function every day under terrible conditions. To all those who fight
against exploitation, against division, against patriarchal power
relations. We have to do it ourselves. Together from below.
Let's unite our struggles. For a good life for all - not for a few. For
a society where work doesn't make us sick. For a world where solidarity
is the foundation, not profit. Let's organize in our workplaces - but
also beyond them! Let's fight for co-determination where we work, live,
love, and fight! Let's transform our unions - from passive
administrative bodies to active, grassroots democratic tools for class
struggle!
Let's ask feminist questions! Who does unpaid work? Who becomes
invisible in the system? Whose concerns count - and whose don't? Let's
be uncomfortable - in solidarity with care workers, with strikers, with
people in precarious jobs, with queer youth, with migrants at the borders!
Let's become collective again. Loud. Uncomfortable. In solidarity.
https://ruhr.dieplattform.org/2025/04/29/1-mai-heisst-nicht-feiern-was-wir-haben-sondern-erkaempfen-was-wir-brauchen/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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