Tehran: The Central Committee of the Iranian Tudeh Party has released a statement on the occasion of International Workers' Day (May 1st), extending its fervent greetings to the working class and laborers of Iran and across the globe. The party paid tribute to the over a century-long struggle of Iranian workers for a society free from poverty and deprivation, for the establishment of a national and popular government, and for the realization of freedom, independence, and social justice.
In its declaration, the Central Committee of the Tudeh Party of Iran congratulated all workers and laborers on the arrival of the eleventh of Ordibehesht (the first of May). The statement highlighted that this year marks the 136th anniversary of the global observance of May Day, a tradition established during the First Congress of the Second International in 1889.
The tradition of holding marches on the first day of May commemorates the protest struggles of American workers in 1886 for the reduction of the workday from 14 to 8 hours, which was subsequently met with violent suppression in Chicago on the fourth of May.
The Tudeh Party emphasized that the May Day ceremonies, now attended by hundreds of millions of workers and laborers worldwide, including in Iran, not only commemorate the heroic struggles of American workers but also serve as a call to continue the fight of workers globally against the inhumane and exploitative capitalist system, aiming to build a different world.
The statement further addressed the unprecedented assault of monopoly capitalism on the rights of workers and laborers in the current year, resulting in increasing unemployment, poverty, and deprivation for millions. Citing United Nations statistics, the party noted that over 700 million people globally live in absolute poverty, and more than 1.8 billion earn less than $1.90 per day. The party criticized the policies of capitalist governments, pointing to the "racist and quasi-fascist" Trump administration's attacks on the rights of laborers in the United States during its first hundred days in office as an example.
The Iranian Tudeh Party also condemned the ongoing "crimes of the racist and criminal Israeli regime in Gaza," supported by global imperialism and accompanied by the "shameful silence" of capitalist countries' media. The party demanded the trial of those responsible for these war crimes, referencing warnings from the head of UNRWA about the dire situation in Gaza. The statement concluded by asserting that the rights of working people can be achieved through peace, not war.
