Central Executive Committee 

On the occasion of May 1st, the Young Communist League salutes the struggle of the working class and celebrates the victories we have won against  the ruling class throughout years of fighting and mobilizing for better wages, better working conditions and for quality social and public services.

This year, we are celebrating MayDay in conditions where the wealth gap is still increasing. In Canada, the top 100 paid bosses earn 209 times the average worker wage (compared to “only” 195 in 2016). Globally, the richest 1% owns 82% of the world’s wealth. This situation was made worse by the 2008 crisis, where  women workers, youth and the masses were forced to accept worse working conditions while, employers continued to grow rich putting the burden of his crisis on working people.

Throughout the world, including in Canada, public services are being undermined. Billions of dollars are either cut or not collected by the governments, as a result of years of austerity measures or tax breaks for big companies. As well, funds are being diverted from public services to increase Canada’s military budget, by 70% in the next 10 years. This is how young people find themselves struggling with huge student debts, where the average student debt at $ 30,000 . For many young mothers, accessing child care is simply impossible. Some health care services, such as dental and eye care, pharmacare, gender affirming surgeries, among others, are out of reach. With cutbacks, institutions such as universities are increasingly reliant on private companies, who provide funding with strings attached.

As wages and working conditions deteriorate, young people often suffer the most.  Lower unionization rates, increasingly precarious situations, and unemployment are the norm.  As well as neoliberal austerity, this is the result of globalization and free trade agreements such a NAFTA, which are nothing more than corporate constitutions as their main purpose is  to lower working conditions and layoff working people for more profits for corporations. Also, many unionised young workers are confronted with two-tier agreements, which impedes them from benefiting from the same collective bargaining that their elder brothers and sisters who benefit from more seniority, and also functions to divide workers generationally.

Migrant workers, for their part, are subject to the racist Temporary Work Program, a program that confines vulnerable, racialized workers to a situation practically of slavery, so bosses can maximize their exploitation. They are denied freedom of association, worker benefits they are required to pay into, healthcare, safety equipment, adequate housing and the ability to freely change employers. Sanctioned by the Canadian government, bosses purposefully isolate  TFW’s to prevent them from organizing and raising the profile of issues they face.

Women are still far from achieving pay equity. Despite some progress achieved after several decades of feminist struggles in this direction, it remains that women would have to wait at the current pace  for 172 years before achieving equality, despite a federal budget so-called feminist presented by Bill Morneau this year; so feminist that it doesn’t even offer access to public and quality childcare services, a key demand when it comes to conciliation between work, studies and family. The fact is, women’s labor continues to be undervalued in the workplace and the home and where women continue to work in more precarious and low-paid sectors such as retail and food-service.

In addition, workers around the world are confronted with the danger posed by the rise of the extreme right, racism, misogyny, nationalism; but also the rise of militarism and the real danger of a world war or a globalized conflict. This past year, the people of Syria have suffered the seventh consecutive year of imperialist war led by the United States and NATO, which has claimed more than five million refugees and over 350 000 deaths. The people and youth of Yemen are still facing one of the worst humanitarian crises caused by Saudi Arabia’s intervention on its territory as repeated attacks against Venezuela, the threat of renewed tensions on the peninsula Korea also darken the picture. The Palestinian people, against whom President Trump pronounced an act of war recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital continue to resist, 70 years after having been dispossessed of his lands, despite the threat of imprisonment, torture or death.

In this situation, Canada continues to attempt to justify the lack of money to create jobs or funding public services such as free education. The government is never short of money to  purchase military equipment in the billions and go to war. The Minister of War, Chrystia Freeland, is in addition spokesperson for the greatest warmongers, as Canada continues along the imperialist path alongside the US and justifying its crimes.

As communists, Mayday is an occasion to remember our past victories and fight for our future. Wherever capitalism is wreaking havoc, wherever it is waging war economically with austerity measures  or through violent imperialist aggressions to subjugate the few countries that refuse to be subjugated by the law of free market, there is resistance.

The gains made by the campaign for a minimum wage of $ 15 an hour are encouraging. However, the employer blackmail that the campaign has faced in recent months, starting with Tim Horton’s multimillion-dollar children, who would pay employees at $ 14 an hour would jeopardize their profits, or the pressures of employers’ unions and chambers of commerce, show that despite these successes, the battle is not yet won.

Against the threat of the destruction of our environment, many young people are mobilized against the projects including the extension of the TransMountain pipeline of Kinder Morgan and the construction of the “Site C” dam, which perpetuate theft of resources, where the Canadian ruling class still conducts warfare against indigenous peoples and nations.

Against patriarchy and the systemic violence, women are also mobilized. For the second consecutive year, by organizing the March of Women in January or through the #MeToo movement, many are determined to take action.

Several young people are organizing in Quebec and elsewhere in the country, even in the world, to express their opposition to the G-7, which Canada is assuming the Presidency this year, which will take place on June 7 and 8 in La Malbaie. More than 500 million dollars are budgeted to ensure the security of the representatives of the great imperialist powers responsible for crises, misery and wars. In the face of this provocation, we must organize and let the world know that the youth of Canada in no way wants to be associated with the warmongering of the Trudeau government.

200 years after the birth of Karl Marx, we are a new generation of resistance. A generation that strives to see in May 1st an opportunity to salute the struggles that will allow our generation to emancipate themselves, to go after their ideals for a better world. A struggle that will prove us right when, 200 years after the birth of the white-bearded socialist, we proclaim loud and clear: “Workers of the World Unite!”. When we organize together, a better world is possible.