ON this May Day, CITU Greets the working class and toiling people of the entire world and our own country, India; Expresses solidarity to the fight of the working class and people of all the continents against the exploitative international finance driven neoliberal capitalist order; Extends solidarity to the people in socialist countries and their struggles in defence of socialism in their countries; reaffirms its confidence that imperialist conspiracies to undermine socialism and restore capitalism in these countries would be decisively defeated Reasserts its commitment to socialism and its resolve to continue the fight to end the exploitative capitalist regime Reiterates its solidarity and support to the valiant struggle of the Palestinian people against the illegal occupation of their country by Israel backed by the USA, defying world opinion; demands recognition of independent sovereign State of Palestine with 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital Strongly denounces US imperialism led wars in different parts of the globe including Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq etc to establish US hegemony over the strategic natural resources and areas in the world; hundreds of thousands of people, most of them civilians, women and children have been killed, rendered homeless and destitute as a result of these imperialist military aggressions forcing them to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere Upholds the principle that the fight against imperialism is an integral part of the class struggle against exploitation; reaffirms its determination to fight against imperialism and its aggressive interventions Recalls the contributions of the World Federation of Trade Unions in leading the international struggle of the working class against imperialism; asserts its faith that the 17th Congress of WFTU in October will be another milestone in WFTU’s efforts to mobilise the world working class against imperialist onslaughts on the toiling people across the world Stands in solidarity with all the people across the world in their struggles against exploitation and onslaught on their rights Extends support to the surging struggles within the country against the attacks on democratic rights; condemns the attacks on students and universities expressing differing opinions or encouraging debate; supports the students and youth asserting their fundamental rights of freedom of expression Salutes the working class and other toiling people of West Bengal for heroically resisting the inhuman attacks of the TMC government and its goons On this May Day, CITU Notes that, all the clamour about recovery notwithstanding, the global economic crisis continues unabated, with signs of aggravation in several parts of the globe since the last over eight years; attempts by the ruling classes to come out of the crisis by aggressively shifting the burdens on to the common people – by attacking their lives and livelihoods and curbing their hard won rights in the name of ‘austerity’ while protecting corporate profits and promoting their loot on the common people and national assets - have not only proved futile but also counter productive; in fact they carry the seeds for the next, in all probability a more devastating, crisis; unemployment and job losses have attained intolerable proportions exposing the total failure and inability of the capitalist system in the full and proper use of the precious human resources to improve the well being of humanity Demands that working hours be reduced to 35 hours a week and working day to comprise four shifts, as a means for employment generation and an immediate measure to address the serious unemployment situation in the world Observes that the increasing discontent and anger of the people against the impact of the pro-corporate and pro-rich neo-liberal policies, against the widening income disparities have led to their growing participation in struggles to protect their working conditions and livelihoods; increasing sections of people – workers, peasants, youth, unemployed, women – are getting gradually disillusioned with the capitalist model of development that has resulted in obscene levels of inequality and disparity with 62 richest people owning wealth equal to that of half the world’s population; 1 percent of people owning more than that by the other 99 percent combined; the wealth owned by the poorest 50 percent of population dropped by 41 percent between 2010 and 2015; in India, trend is almost the same, rather more obscene- richest 1 percent Indians own 53 percent of country’s wealth while the top 10 percent own 76.3 percent Notes with utmost concern that in the absence of a strong progressive and Left alternative, in several countries right wing, retrograde, reactionary and racist forces are gaining ground and trying to divert peoples’ anger into fratricidal fights against one another, to prevent it being channelised into united struggles against the discredited neo-liberal regime and the capitalist system itself Pledges to direct all its resources, energies and initiatives to spread awareness among the working class and the toiling people in general about the real culprit of their miseries and depravations – the exploitative capitalist system, to rouse them to the urgent need to uproot it and to prepare them for the ultimate struggle to end all exploitation On this May Day, CITU Warns the people of our country India, about the twin dangers that confront the working class and all sections of the common people today – the neo-liberal policies zealously being pursued by the BJP led Modi government resulting in deterioration of the conditions of our working people on the one hand, and the vicious attempts to weaken the struggles against these policies by dividing people on the basis of religion, region, caste, etc and disrupt their unity, on the other The Modi led government at the centre is pampering the national and multinational corporations and big business houses with bonanzas – tax concessions, rewards to tax and bank loan defaulters, and exemptions from laws of the land including labour laws. It is handing them control over the nation’s wealth – our public sector, our lands, our mines, our seas, our hills and our forests, and most of all, our people, for unbridled exploitation. At the same time, the vast majority of workers and the peasants who produce wealth expending their sweat and blood are being pushed into slavery and penury; they are denuded of their lands, their jobs, their rights and their livelihoods. Laws are being amended to make the illegal legal, to legitimise corporate loot of our people and our national resources; expenditure on social welfare; benefits like ICDS, MGNREGA, NHM, Mid-day meal programme etc are being drastically cut; agrarian crisis and peasant suicides continue unabated; despite all the hype of ‘Make in India’, ‘Start Up India’ and ‘Stand Up India’, employment generation remains elusive, in fact, it is slowing down. There is a serious attack on the basic democratic rights of the people. Dissent is sought to be curtailed. Voices that question are being suppressed. Driven by the communal fascistic ideology of the RSS, the various communal outfits of the Hindutva brigade are on rampage physically attacking and even killing those who hold views opposed to theirs, those who stand for progressive, rational and scientific thinking. All those who differ from their views are being branded ‘anti national’. Threats of ‘killing lakhs’ ‘cutting off the tongues’, ‘chopping off the heads’ etc emanate from people holding constitutional positions as ministers, MPs, MLAs etc of the ruling BJP, with the benign and tacit support of the government. It is the irony of our times that RSS, an organisation which had consciously kept itself aloof from the nation’s independence struggle, today seeks to appropriate to itself the right to certify patriotism and nationalism; BJP, the party that leads a government pursuing policies detrimental to our national interests, question the patriotism of those who oppose such anti-national policies! On this May Day, CITU Reminds the people of our country that the communal fascistic acts of the Hindutva forces, in turn, increase the danger of minority fundamentalism and terrorism; Reasserts its strong belief that majority and minority fundamentalism thrive on each other; both divide people, disrupt their unity, divert their attention from their real day-to-day issues, weaken their struggle to improve their lives; and ultimately both help the exploiting classes Reiterates its conviction that the struggle for defending, widening and consolidating the unity of the class and the people against the communal, jingoist and disruptive forces is integral to the united struggle against neo-liberal economic order and its political advocates Is conscious that this conviction places upon its shoulders - the task of uniting all sections of toiling people in the struggle against both neo-liberalism and fundamentalism and the politics that promote both; the tasks of advancing the struggle to achieve a comprehensive change in the correlation of class forces in favour of a Left Democratic Alternative Exhorts the working class of the country to be in the forefront to unite all sections of toiling people – the peasants, agricultural workers, unemployed and youth; to raise in one voice their strong opposition to the neo-liberal agenda of the ruling classes; and to resist all attempts to disrupt their unity, whether in the name of religion, caste, region or gender Calls upon the entire working class of the country, irrespective of their trade union affiliations or lack of any, to join the countrywide general strike on September 2, 2016 as decided by the joint platform of central trade unions and industrial federations; urges the common people, in urban and rural areas, to extend their full and wholehearted support to this strike that raises demands not only of the workers, not only of all sections of toiling people, but demands intended to protect our self reliant economy and national sovereignty On this May Day 2016, CITU appeals To the working class of India To widen and deepen its unity irrespective of trade union affiliations and strengthen united struggles against the anti-worker, anti-people and anti0national neo-liberal policies of the government To strengthen bonds of solidarity across sectors and states to resist and defeat the attacks on their rights, on their jobs, on their livelihoods and living conditions To forge unity with all the other sections of toiling people, the peasants, agricultural workers, artisans and other rural workers to take the struggle against the neo-liberal regime to a higher level to inflict its decisive defeat To identify the real cause of their worsening conditions – the capitalist system and the politics and forces that promote the system; and to prepare themselves for the struggle to change this exploitative system To be vigilant against the attempts to divide and disrupt its unity, in whatsoever garb or colour it is presented and to promptly intervene to thwart all such attempts On this May Day 2016 CITU Raises its voice in support of International Solidarity of the Working Class Unity Against all Exploitation and Oppression Down With Capitalism and Imperialism Down With Imperialist led Neo-liberal Globalisation Long Live Socialism Workers of the World Unite