This year, progressive forces of Anakbayan-Europe, Hollanda Halk
Cephesi, ILPS and Revolutionaire Eenheid marched together in a Red
Block in the Amsterdam 1st of May demonstration, united under the slogan
“1917…2017 – The Struggle Continues!”
The
demonstration, organized by FNV (major trade-union of the Netherlands)
was attended by around 8000 people. The small but unified Red Block was
composed of 40 people, which can be seen as a big success as this
initative was the 1st attempt to unite forces in the Netherlands in such
event. This is important, since the FNV is as yellow as they come. The
union has literally turned our militant Labour Day tradition into an
innocent entertainment festival, by organizing a huge music podium, and
fun activities with some snacks on the side. Outside this shameful
capitalist parade, the union virtually monopolizes the class struggle
for worker’s rights and good living conditions. But they deny this to be
class struggle in the first place, and they see it purely as a
negotiation table exercise, devoid of building power among the working
class.
As
this was a first successful attempt at uniting forces under a line that
called for addressing the root causes of poverty and unemployment, we
have made a start at building forces towards a more militant and
revolutionary struggle for worker’s rights. Slogans in English, Dutch,
Turkish, Kurdish and Tagalog languages were chanted, and comrades were
inspired with speeches, for example on the workers’ conditions in the
Netherlands. As the slogan suggests, we made a direct link to one of the
greatest inspirations to the world labour movement in history, the
Bolshevik October Revolution, this year 100 years ago. We are happy with
the first result of this year’s Labour Day Red Block and we confidently
move forward to building our forces in years to come!
The
demonstration, organized by FNV (major trade-union of the Netherlands)
was attended by around 8000 people. The small but unified Red Block was
composed of 40 people, which can be seen as a big success as this
initative was the 1st attempt to unite forces in the Netherlands in such
event. This is important, since the FNV is as yellow as they come. The
union has literally turned our militant Labour Day tradition into an
innocent entertainment festival, by organizing a huge music podium, and
fun activities with some snacks on the side. Outside this shameful
capitalist parade, the union virtually monopolizes the class struggle
for worker’s rights and good living conditions. But they deny this to be
class struggle in the first place, and they see it purely as a
negotiation table exercise, devoid of building power among the working
class.As
this was a first successful attempt at uniting forces under a line that
called for addressing the root causes of poverty and unemployment, we
have made a start at building forces towards a more militant and
revolutionary struggle for worker’s rights. Slogans in English, Dutch,
Turkish, Kurdish and Tagalog languages were chanted, and comrades were
inspired with speeches, for example on the workers’ conditions in the
Netherlands. As the slogan suggests, we made a direct link to one of the
greatest inspirations to the world labour movement in history, the
Bolshevik October Revolution, this year 100 years ago. We are happy with
the first result of this year’s Labour Day Red Block and we confidently
move forward to building our forces in years to come!
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