The Young Communist League-Ligue de la jeunesse communiste extends a red salute to workers and students around the world struggling for a better future amidst threats of imperialist war, and capitalist plundering of the earth. The capitalist class has placed youth in its crosshairs as their pursuit for profit comes at the expense of imperialist ‘forever’ wars, poverty, and ecological disaster. We salute the fearless resistance of the Palestinian youth facing brutal zionist aggression. We salute the determination of the Cuban youth in defying Washington’s “Donroe doctrine” while demonstrating what true internationalism looks like. We salute the university and high school students across Canada who participated in class walkouts in defiance against austerity budgets and young workers standing on picket lines demanding better contracts and better pay. In the fightback against such conditions more young people are realizing that the struggle for better wages and jobs is one and the same for the fight for peace and sovereignty. Socialism is the only solution out of capitalism’s crisis, and is desperately needed to institute peace and prosperity for the international working class.
On this May Day we say yes to stable, secure, and good paying jobs! Youth are the first fired and last hired. Young workers across Canada continue to be disproportionately affected by the lack of job prospects and a stagnation in wages, making up about half of all job losses since May of 2025, despite representing just 14 per cent of the labour force. In the fight against job cuts and privatization, the YCL-LJC applauds the struggles fought by CUPW against Canada Post engaging in a multi-year prolonged struggle to defend Canada’s public postal service from being privatized despite significant repression from the federal government through the use of the strikebreaking law, section 107 of the labour code. In order to build strength in the labour movement a resurgence of working class militancy and unity must be built. This can be done through the organization of workers in defense of their immediate interests, and through independent political action demanding public ownership and control of industries where they work to fight against mass layoffs, an expansion of labour rights including a livable minimum wage of $25/hr, a shorter work week with no loss in pay, and a guaranteed right to a job.
The YCL-LJC demands that education is a right! The fight for free education is more urgent every day as funding is squeezed out of the public system by profit driven governments. Privatization in education is not limited to the list of private endowment funds in postsecondary colleges and universities. It is now being thrust onto all levels of education with charter schools being aggressively implemented in primary and secondary education creating a ‘two-tiered’ system across Canada. In the past year serious cuts to OSAP in Ontario have been felt and have been met with a sizable resistance from students and campus workers that will likely continue to build. These cuts reflect the general trend of slashing post-secondary education budgets across the country. The creeping cuts are experienced by students through an overall rise in average cost of tuition, and the cutting back of courses and programs.
On this May Day the YCL-LJC demands that Canada must get out of NATO! This is not an unrelated demand, but is essential in tying together the fight for jobs with the fight for peace and sovereignty. Canada has adopted a war budget through pledging 5% of our GDP on NATO spending, tying Canada to an offensive alliance that is the root cause of global instability that we are witnessing unfold today. With these NATO targets, every level of our economy is currently being converted into tooling for the next imperialist war. The expansion of health care, access to education, socially useful manufacturing, and building affordable homes cannot be achieved with our NATO commitments. Therefore, our participation with NATO must come to an end. The YCL-LJC calls on Canadians young and old to take up the banner of peace, calling for the tooling of our industries for people’s needs, and not endless wars.
The success of the struggles that the working class wages will be determined by the unity and organization of our class around our own interests. Therefore the YCL-LJC calls on all progressive minded people, student organizations and working class youth to align themselves against the ravaging of capital’s interest to be subdued by the interests of working-class power. Our fight is against the imperialists plotting the next global catastrophe not our brother building roads. Our fight is against the capitalist ‘rigging’ the system against our neighborhoods, not against workers stowed away in work camps and office cubicles. The YCL-LJC on this May Day calls on unity of workers and students against the imperialists and against the monopolies that are destroying our future.
Long Live the International Working Class!
The Youth are the future, the future is socialism!
