Long Live International Labour Day!

Iran’s People Fedaee Guerrillas

The workers of the world are greeting the May Day in a situation
that a great crisis has encompassed the whole world: the
epidemy of Coronavirus. According to the statistics available at
present, more than 2 million people are already detected to be
infected and well over 137,000 people have lost their lives. These
figures are announced, despite the fact that the World Health
Organisation has reported that most countries are not publishing the true figures, and yet every day that passes, the numbers of the infected and the dead are increasing.

Taking into consideration that there are no vaccinations to fight Coronavirus, “home quarantine” and “social distancing” are set as the most important steps against it; and hence in most countries engaged in fighting this virus, people are forced to stay in a quarantine condition. Needless, to say this has caused major sections of the economy of the engaged countries to be practically closed down and millions of workers have lost their jobs.

The International Labour Organisation has reported that around 195 million fulltime workers have either lost or soon will be losing their jobs. According to the ILO’s report, the sections most affected due to this crisis, are: hoteliers and tourism; airliners; restaurants; retailers, trade and commercial services and administrations. Further, the World Trade Organisation reports that the size of the commercial trades in 2020 will reduce between 13% to 22% – of course the reason for such difference is due to the difference in uncertainty of the estimation of the current crisis. The WTO also estimates that Coronavirus epidemy could result in the deepest economic crisis ever.

The world capitalist system was already in crisis before the Coronavirus epidemy, and now it has entered into a new phase of the crisis. It is described by some economic experts as “unprecedented”. The capitalist governments talk about allocating vast budgets for fighting the Coronavirus, but in practice these aids are to be designated to the imperialistic monopolies and companies that are losing profit due this epidemy. Whilst some capitalist governments talk about the necessity of “social distancing”, they are not willing to understand what it means to the lives of the unprivileged workers and big sections of the society and they don’t fulfil the real needs of the workers and toilers, such as receiving full wages during the quarantine condition.

For example, in Iran, the Roohani government is constantly asking people to “stay at home” to fight the widespread Coronavirus and against the protestation by millions of workers and toilers who say: how are we to survive and provide for our families, they shamelessly offer a loan of 1 million Tomans (equivalent to $64.30) with a heavy 12% interest as their strategy for securing the livelihood of the people who have lost their jobs and only source of income. This has caused much more anger and hatred by the oppressed masses towards the despotic and barbaric state.

The above facts, once again prove what the communists say that when the capitalist state faces the inherent crisis of the system, in order to survive, they shall always make the workers to bear the brunt of the crisis and submerge the workers in destitution, misery and hunger. In practice, it means getting themselves ride of the crisis by “enforcing the destruction of a mass of productive forces”. That is why in many countries, most unemployed workers are lacking any kind of social provisions and are left to their devices in order to die gradually in the swamp of destitution and hunger. The other face of this reality is the increase in the possibility of the explosions of the anger of the workers and toilers in a life and death struggle, so much so that some capitalist think-tanks have warned the states against “social riots”.

Militant Workers! The May Day is the demonstration of the indefatigable struggles of the working class all over the world. Every year, on such day, the workers demonstrate their unity of struggle and determination by holding labour meetings and gatherings. However, “social distancing” and prohibition of mass gatherings means that the workers are unable to do so this year. This is happening at a time when the Coronavirus epidemic is deepening the inherent crisis of the capitalist system, augmenting the reserve army of the unemployed and in short the growing class contradictions and the class struggles between the workers and toilers on one hand and the ruling classes on the other hand is ascending in a number of countries.

In our country, during the ruling dictatorship in Iran, the prohibition of freely commemorating the May Day did not necessitate the spread of the Coronavirus; for the Coronavirus of the Islamic Republic has been depriving the working class for more than four decades to enjoy this very natural right. The Iranian workers, at present situation, are the prime target of the spread of the Coronavirus – for the inhumane policies of the Islamic Republic has caused ever more spread of this illness – but also the anti-worker policies of this regime have meant ever more destitution and hunger.

For example, whilst the lackeys of the regime itself have set the minimum wage at 9 million Tomans (equivalent to $579) per month, the executors of the regime have shamelessly set the minimum wage at only 1.835 million Tomans (equivalent to $118.97) per month for this year. This is around 4 and half times less than the declared poverty line and it only means that the regime is consciously and knowingly leaving the workers who are now crossing swords with the Coronavirus, without any kind of support in the whirlpool of poverty, destitution and hunger. This act by the Islamic Republic demonstrates that they are playing with the lives of millions of workers and making them face the danger of death.

On the international labour day, once again the realities of the situation remind the workers that in order to get rid of the oppression and the boundless despotism of the capitalists and their state, the workers must fight the Islamic Republic with the aim of overthrowing it. For, as long as this regime is ruling, the workers’ livelihood will never change to their favour.

Long Live May Day, International Workers’ Day
Islamic Republic, the Enemy of Toilers, Puppet of Plunders, must be destroyed Victory to the Brave Combat of the Workers Against Oppressive System of Capitalism Long live Revolution, Long live Communism
Iran’s People Fedaee Guerrillas
28 April 2019- April 29, 2020