The First of May (by Liz Philipson)
“I believe it to be true,
You see
Tomorrow
Now belongs to me –
And so
Let not too many tears
Water these unhappy years
Being poor and black today,
I await my first of May.”
THE ORIGINS
From ancient times, the first of May has been recognised as the first day of spring and associated with fertility and renewal. In England, maypole dancing traditionally greeted the spring but the puritans of the 1500s tried to stamp this out by cutting down the maypoles. In Britain in 1644, Parliament banned maypoles, describing then as ‘a Heathenish vanity’. There was some restoration in Victorian times, with much more genteel and restrained dancing than previously. In America, the cutting of the Maypole has been held to presage the destruction of native American communities. However, for well over 100 years, May 1st has also been celebrated as International Workers Day across the world. Tens of thousands of people march in processions highlighting and protesting the range of issues affecting the livelihood of workers. May Day was originally chosen for this annual celebration of workers’ rights in 1889 by the Second International (Marxist International Socialist Conference in Paris). The date also commemorates the struggle for the eight-hour working day in the USA. In Chicago in 1886, a strike supporting this demand erupted into a riot and there were casualties among the police and the strikers, then, after a controversial trial, four strikers were hanged. Since that time, across the world, workers gather on May Day, sometimes in large numbers, sometimes just a few hundred. Sometimes they gather in fear, protesting authoritarianism, sometimes in a joyous symbolic celebration of workers solidarity.
MAY DAY IN LONDON
In England, workers used to unilaterally leave their workplaces to join the celebrations - sometimes in great numbers and often forcing the bosses to close down for the day. It was not until 1978 that May Day became an official holiday in England for everyone. In 1985 the May Bank Holiday was moved to May 8th to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of victory in Europe in World War Two and the Bank Holiday has remained on that Monday ever since. So, the holiday generally does not coincide with May 1 and has been reduced to ‘the early Spring Bank Holiday’. The move from May 1 caused some controversy and resulted in the establishment of the London May Day Organising Committee, which continues to organise a march from Clerkenwell Green to Hyde Park or Trafalgar Square on May 1st every year.
Though the numbers on the London May Day march have diminished over the years, it has been enthusiastically supported by the Kurdish and Turkish communities, including those from Day Mer and other community centres in the Newington Green area. Taylan Sahbaz, from Day Mer, told me that there was not a big May Day culture in England as, by the end of 1980s, the anti-trade union legislation of Mrs Thatcher’s conservative government and the defeat of the miners’ strike left organised labour at a low ebb. However, the celebration of May Day is intrinsic for Turkish and Kurdish socialists. Taylan also stressed the importance of the international aspect. His communities wanted to stand with traditional British workers and international comrades to appreciate each other’s struggles. There are regular speakers from the Turkish and Kurdish Communities, at the May Day rally after the March. The Turkish and Kurdish communities used to organise a feeder march from Manor House to Clerkenwell Green though that has not happened for some years. However, in 2016, Day Mer centre was a rallying point and from there they marched together to Clerkenwell Green to join the main London demonstration.
The London March is led by the Big Red Band each year and joined by samba drummers and other musicians. Trade Union members gather under their banners, friends gather in groups – glad to meet again. It is a lively, comradely atmosphere of friendship and solidarity.
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
May Day marches have different characters according to the conditions in which they are held and the political demands on the agenda, whether national, international, or local. The character of state sponsored May Day parades, such as those in the USSR and the Eastern bloc countries, were quite different and were used as an opportunity to show off military hardware and battalions. As celebrations of workers’ rights, May Day demonstrations are also an opportunity to progress different dissenting political agendas.
Major post war political events have all been the focus for May Day organising. The Vietnam war – particularly the bombing of civilian areas by the US military - were a spur to demonstrations worldwide. In 1971, May Day in the USA was a platform against the war in Vietnam and resulted in mass arrests. In the guardian Tariq Ali retrospectively described the launch of ‘Black Dwarf’, a socialist broadsheet, on May Day 1968. This was the pinnacle of the student uprisings in Europe and the Broadsheet heading for May Day was “We shall fight, we shall win, Paris, London, Rome, Berlin!” ‘Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, we shall fight, we shall win” was a regular chant on Vietnam anti-war demonstrations. Opposition to the Iraq wars would later similarly provide the focus for May Day activism during the 1990s. In 2022, when hopefully the London May Day will be held after a two-year gap, perhaps peace will again be on the agenda. It looks as if the Ukraine war will run on – unless of course the unthinkable happens and the button is pushed.
In London in 2001, ‘Stop the City’ and other anti-capitalist demonstrations preceded the May Day which also had a strong anti-capitalist flavour. May Day was heavily policed and there were complaints of intimidation and ‘kettling’ at Oxford Circus. The style of policing can be the determining factor in the nature of any demonstration. Unnecessarily heavy policing can turn a family carnival atmosphere into a frightening and threatening experience. This was reversed on May Day 2009 in London there was a response to the heavy policing of an anti-capitalist demonstration held one month previously. People headed to the City of London, dressed up as police, businessmen and all manner of imaginative costumes, they re-enacted some of the scenes of the previous demonstration, playing the roles of the police. They turned intimidation into a carnival for one afternoon.
Many of the Kurds and Turks who join the May Day march in London have fled oppression in their own country. The potential of May Day as a rallying cry for dissent and opposition was understood by the Turkish government when it banned May Day rallies in the central Taksim Square in Istanbul in 2014. Amnesty International called on the government to ‘respect the rights of trade unionists and others wishing to hold peaceful assemblies on May Day.’
May Day is local as well as international. Representatives of striking workers are welcomed onto platforms. At the last London Rally in 2019 speakers in Trafalgar Square included those from union struggles at TFI Fridays (Unite), Picture House (BECTU), Dial a Ride (Unite), and notably RMT, involved in several rail and tube strikes. Also included were a school student climate crisis striker and a veteran anti-racist. Taylan Sahbaz was very clear. ‘You cannot have a May Day rally with speeches without including representatives of local strikes. The day is about solidarity.’
MAY DAY IN THE PANDEMIC
May Day demonstrations were largely cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Things happened online. London May Day Organising Committee recorded speakers from Trade Unions, Community organisations, artists, Black Lives Matter, and environmental activism. This was put online together with music and films instead of the usual march.
There were other online May Day initiatives. Dynamic young people from Dissenters and Justseeds published an online event of poems and visual arts followed by a panel discussing ‘the intersecting roles of activism and the arts in envisioning a world without war, cages, police and empire.’ In Pennsylvania, USA, a nontheist group put out an online call for a May Day of fundraising for homeless shelters and foodbanks under the call of ‘Mayday for humanity’
Here in Newington Green, May Day was celebrated with a march in 2021, despite the pandemic. The Turkish and Kurdish communities, having missed one May Day in 2020, were determined to mark the day. Taylan, from Day Mer, described how about one hundred and fifty members of the community assembled – somewhat nervously - outside Hackney Town Hall in Mare Street, carefully observing covid regulations of the time. They greeted each other warmly – though the centre had been open throughout the pandemic to ensure vulnerable members of the community were cared for. From Hackney Town Hall they marched to Homerton Hospital in solidarity with the Health Service Workers. They were warmly received at the Homerton. May Day had been properly respected – community and solidarity with struggling workers affirmed.
Come and join this year’s May Day
ASSEMBLE CLERKENWELL GREEN FROM 12 NOON
March leaves for Trafalgar Square at 13.00
RALLY IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE FROM 14.30
With leading speakers from Trade Unions and London communities.
This blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. It was made by New Unity and Liz Philipson. Find out more: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
