3 May rally a success

Our May Day Rally held yesterday was very successful and thanks to all that came. Forty people enjoyed hearing inspiring speeches from people who have been at the forefront of resistance to the economic crisis.

I opened the rally with a speech outlining how the capitalist parties have given £1 trillion of our money to the rich bankers and how they are now planning to make ordinary people pay – through massive cuts to our public services.
I was followed by Joy Macready from the National Union of Journalists – she spoke of £6 million in cuts at the BBC, which should be maintained as public service. She said that the quality of journalism was being harmed and that this effects the opinions and information that we need to be informed members of society. She also spoke of how women workers have been particularly badly effected by the crisis and are often forced to work part time, casual contracts when they want full-time permanent posts.  She called for women to build up and join anti-cuts action committees on their estates.

Gary Spink, a refuse worker from Leeds spoke about the 12 week strike by bin men and women against the Lib Dem-Tory council who tried to cut wages by a third. The strikers managed to hold out for victory. Gary ended by saying your vote does count – it can send a signal to the authorities that we won't pay for their crisis.

Joana Pinto from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts spoke of how tuition fees actually widen the gap between wealthier and poorer students as working class students can often not afford to finish their studies. She called for unity between teachers and students in fighting education cuts. She also spoke about how resources are being diverted to courses like business studies and finance at the expense of courses that further more socially useful knowledge.

Next there were some fine contributions from floor focusing on immigration, schools, the NHS, housing, police and the trade union.

We finished off the rally with speakers Guy Smallman – Kennington photojournalist, who had visited Afghanistan. He was followed by migrant cleaner activist Alberto Durango.

Guy spoke about the 2000lb bombs dropped on Afghan villages by US troops that often hit civilians. He went to a village after a bombing where the main casualities were children – who had been hiding in a Mosque for protection. Contrary to claims occupation forces have helped re-established schooling, Guy said that 53% children were working in awful conditions. He gave an example of children sorting through medical waste – including needles.

Alberto Durango spoke before I gave my final speech. He was very inspiring in his story of how the Latin American Workers Association recruited 1000 cleaners since 2005, but he said the cleaners often had to fight for the living wage without the officials. He said that migration status was often used to try and kick out those who were organised in unions, in a racist action to destroy workers organisation. But him and other workers are determined to keep fighting. Many thanks to Alberto for coming to our rally.

I summed up by calling for a new anticapitalist party  – one which can "build a bridge from today's struggles to the struggle for power and open up the road to socialism."