Salford's annual May Day Rally at Bexley Square has grown this year to include a focus for the whole of Greater Manchester, with a march at noon from the city's historic centre to Cathedral Gardens in Manchester.
"Our May Day event is a long standing celebration of trade unionism in Manchester and Salford where the Trades Union Congress was founded" says Annette Wright, President of Manchester Trades' Union Council (MTUC) "Our two cities have a long and proud joint history of trade unionism and working class organisation.
"This year has already seen major disputes in a number of unions against employers' policies which come as a consequence of the Tory government's austerity measures" she adds "This International Workers' Day, we ask everyone to consider the vital role the union movement has to play in defending terms, conditions and pay at work and also, increasingly, in defending the many people who are subject to vicious government policies used against those of us who find ourselves out of work."
The themes this year, are based on opposition to the ConDem Government's austerity/fat cat/fracking agenda… `No to cuts, privatisation, fracking and climate change – and will be calling for investment in social housing, council services and green jobs, as well as a living wage for all'.
"International Workers' Day is a hugely important date for the labour movement both here in England and across the world" explains Alex Davidson, Secretary of MTUC "We come together to celebrate our history but also to demonstrate that the labour movement is the vital force today in resisting cuts, privatisation and other effects of four years of austerity. Therefore we want this year's May Day to, not just remember our history but demonstrate our determination to resist, no matter which party imposes it, and to build the union movement into a force that can fight for and win a better society."
Tributes will be paid on the day to Tony Benn and Bob Crow who died recently, and the message of the rally and march will be `A Better Future For All Our Communities'. The message is summed up in a new song by Bernard Brough, called Bexley Square, which echoes working class struggles and fightbacks from the famous `Battle of Bexley Square' to the Jarrow marches to the present day...
`First you took away our jobs, then you tried to sell our souls/All in a pathetic rush, to fill the bankers' financial holes...and now we're gonna, we're gonna take you down...'
You can watch and listen to the demo version of the song on YouTube – click here.
Monday's bank holiday rally could well be the last time Bexley Square truly belongs to the people as the old Salford Town Hall has been sold off to be converted into a zillion boxy yuppie flats…
May Day March and Rally
Monday May 5th
March starts Bexley Square 12 noon to a rally at Cathedral Gardens (next to Urbis) at 2pm.
For further details see the May Day event Facebook pages – click here and click here and click here !
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