The latest May Day plaque (insert) from the World Federation of Trade Unions will soon be placed on the bronze Haymarket Memorial. The announcement was made during the annual May Day festivities in Chicago. Jennifer Rice/staff photographer
By Jennifer Rice
Managing Editor
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Email Jennifer Rice at: jen@foxvalley
labornews.com
CHICAGO — Illinois Labor History Society President Larry Spivack said it best when he described Chicago, and specifically Haymarket Square as the epicenter of international labor.
No one present at the May 1 May Day festivities would call him wrong. Low temperatures and the threat of rain didn’t keep union members or their supporters from celebrating International Workers’ Day.
As is customary, a plaque was unveiled, which will soon be placed on the base of the bronze Haymarket Memorial to symbolize world solidarity in the fight for workers’ rights.
World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) Regional Coordinator Kay Tillow said her organization conveys a militant salute to all men and women of the working class and to the 92 million members of WFTU in 126 countries.
World Federation of Trade Unions Regional Coordinator Kay Tillow shows the crowd what the newest plaque to be placed on the Haymarket Memorial will look like. Jennifer Rice/staff photographer
“[Today] is a symbol of internationalism, a symbol of struggle, a symbol of class unity. These are our most powerful tools with which we need to arm ourselves in our struggles for better lives, in our struggles against poverty and wars generated by the capitalist barbarity,” Tillow explained.
She mentioned countries in the Middle East where the WFTU wants to send its internationalist solidarity. “Palestine, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq Afghanistan, Yemen and all peoples who are suffering imperialist attacks and fight for their right to decide for themselves over their present and future,” she said.
On the heels of Tillow’s remarks, a representative from a Philippines progressive trade union organization — Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), which translates to May 1st Movement, discussed how her organization is pushing for an increase in its national minimum wage.
National Alliance for Filipino Concerns Midwest Coordinator Nerissa Allegretti pledges to stand up for workers everywhere. Jennifer Rice/staff photographer
“Filipino workers face similar challenges up to this day,” explained National Alliance for Filipino Concerns Midwest Coordinator Nerissa Allegretti.
“The spirit of May 1st lives — it lives in every worker that stands up, defies the status quo and participates in collective action to effect change,” she said to cheers.
Buses of women participating in the last day of the national Women Build Nations conference held in Chicago show their union pride at May Day festivities in Haymarket Square. Jennifer Rice/staff photographer
Members of LiUNA show their solidarity May 1. Jennifer Rice/staff photographer