Star date: 24th April 2016

BEXLEY SQUARE MAY DAY RALLY AND MARCH CANCELLED BUT HUGE FESTIVAL IN MANCHESTER

Salford Trades Council has this year cancelled the now traditional May Day rally in Bexley Square which has seen hundreds of trade unionists gather for speeches before marching to join celebrations in Manchester.

Salfordians who want to celebrate workers day will now have to go direct to Manchester's event on Saturday April 30th, which begins with a rally at All Saints Park around noon, followed by a march to Sackville Gardens and the Mechanics Institute for a huge May Day Festival, where the legendary Arthur Scargill will be speaking.

Full details here...

For the first time in recent years, there will be no Salford May Day rally at Bexley Square. The event and subsequent march to Manchester has been cancelled by Salford Trades Council...

"We had a debate and decided that we didn't want to clash with the Manchester event, and that in October we would have an event in Salford which would celebrate trade union history" says Paul Kelly from Salford Trades Council

Rather than `clash' with Manchester's event, Salford's has always been complementary, with its own rally and subsequent march feeding into whatever was happening in Manchester.

Paul Kelly explains that people get "march weary" and that "the reality was that there weren't enough people on the ground to this; we had to be practical and decided we'd put all our efforts into doing something in October which will be a good event, for the 150th anniversary of Manchester and Salford Trades Council beginnings...We thought it was more important to build a Salford carnival-type show event, which we had years ago, rather than just go in a building and talk to each other."

Instead, next Saturday April 30th, those Salfordians who want to celebrate May Day will have to go to All Saints Park on the other side of town, where there will be a short rally around noon, before a march to Sackville Gardens and the Mechanics Institute for a huge May Day Festival, which includes music, theatre, debates and discussions celebrating workers day.

The undoubted highlight will be a speech in the main hall at the Mechanics Institute by the legendary Arthur Scargill, who led the National Union of Mineworkers in an all out war with Margaret Thatcher.

Arthur Scargill will be addressing the May Day Rally, which runs 5:30pm until 7pm, along with the Christine Blower, General Secretary NUT, Lynn Collins North West TUC Secretary, Matt Wrack, General Secretary FBU, Hannah McCarthy, Campaigns Officer University of Manchester Students Union, Mark Serwotka, General Secretary PCS, Dave Ward, General Secretary CWU, and a speaker from the BMA, representing junior doctors, who are currently taking on the Tory Government with more strikes this week.

There's absolutely loads going on at the May Day Festival, with plenty of Salford involvement, including an exhibition by the city's Working Class Movement Library (Congress Room), stalls featuring Salford Community Theatre and Salford and Manchester National Union of Journalists (John Tocher Room), plus individual Salford trade unionists involved in speeches and debates. Salford Star editor, Stephen Kingston, will be taking part in the NUJ Reporting Poverty event which starts at 4:30pm in the Mary Quaile Room at the Mechanics Institute.

Meanwhile, outdoors, in Sackville Gardens, there's an Irish Tent (1pm-4:30pm), with music, information and discussion on the legacy of the Easter Rising, James Connolly and more; a second tent (1:15pm-3:15pm) holding events on `Unite the Union and the International Brigades Memorial Trust' and `Keep Your Mitts Off Our NHS', plus a food tent on a `pay as you feel' basis.

Inside the Mechanics Institute there's a bar, dozens of stalls and discussions ranging from `On Strike for Better Schools', to `Leading the Online Fightback Against Austerity' to `Stop TTIP!', to `Latin America: Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba'. Just about everything that comes under a trade union/workers' rights umbrella will be represented.

There's also music by Claire Mooney and Jumping Johnny; a newly commissioned play, Dare to be Free, about Manchester Irish trade unionist Mary Quaile and backed by Christopher Eccleston, Maxine Peake and more (1pm free Mary Quaile Room; see Salford Star preview – click here) and, at 8:30pm, Banner Theatre's play, Chicago: The Great Teachers' Strike (tickets £10 to book click here).

As part of the day, there's also an MTUC Irish Night at the Irish World Heritage Centre at 8:30pm, £10 (for tickets click here), while the following evening, Sunday 1st May, there's a MTUC and University of Manchester Music Night at Academy 2 featuring Claire Mooney, Our Morals, Kingdom of the Blind and The Wakes. Tickets range from £2 to £10 (click here to book)

For further details on the Manchester May Day Festival see the Manchester Trades Union Council website – click here

Also see the Manchester May Day Facebook event page - click here