DTUC calls for MayDay rally support

Derry Trades Union Council (DTUC) is encouraging all employed and unemployed workers and trade unionists to come along and support its May Day celebrations at 1.30 p.m. in Waterloo Place.

“International Workers’ Day gives us an opportunity to recognise the immense role the labour movement has played right across the world in improving the lives of working class people and their communities,” said the DTUC in a statement.

“It also provides a platform to raise awareness around issues affecting workers and their families today,” the Council added.

The DTUC, relecting on the origins of May Day in the Haymarket Square demonstrations for an 8-hour week in Chicago, in the 1880s, quote Eric Chase from the ‘Industrial Worker’ newspaper in the United States: “Truly, history has a lot to teach us about the roots of our radicalism.

“When we remember that people were shot so we could have the 8-hour day; if we acknowledge that homes with families in them were burned to the ground so we could have Saturday as part of the weekend.

“When we recall 8-year old victims of industrial accidents who marched in the streets protesting working conditions and child labour only to be beat down by the police and company thugs, we understand that our current condition cannot be taken for granted - people fought for the rights and dignities we enjoy today, and there is still a lot more to fight for.

“The sacrifices of so many people can not be forgotten or we’ll end up fighting for those same gains all over again.”