Under the slogan “Working for reunification, trade union and social rights”, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot trade union organisations PEO, Dev-is, KTAMS, KTOS, KTOEOS, BES and KOOP-SEN, DAU-SEN, members of the World Trade Federation, will celebrate Labour Day at the buffer zone at Ledra Palace.
During a press conference at the Home for Cooperation, the organisations announced that gatherings and marches will be organised before the event. In the government controlled areas of the Republic, a gathering will be held outside the Finance Ministry and in the Turkish occupied north, a similar event at Kyrenia Gate.
In a declaration the organisations note that Cypriot workers honour May 1st, the international day of struggle and solidarity for workers.
It said “we honour the pioneering heroes of The Haymarket Riot in Chicago in May 1886 who with their sacrifice, became a leading example for the working class”.
The unionists also paid tribute to the pioneers of the labour movement in Cyprus, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who through their common struggles achieved fundamental conquests for the working class of Cyprus, which include social security, eight-hour shifts and the right to belong to unions.
This year`s 1st May celebrations come amid continued upheaval of imperialist interventions and competition for geostrategic control and resource control in the Eastern Mediterranean region, with the aggressiveness of imperialism triggering wars, causing pain and misery millions of victims and refugees.
At the same time, the declaration added in the economic and social front, economic and social inequality are rapidly spreading and hard neo-liberal policies of austerity are dominating, leading people to poverty and unemployment and pave the way for racism and far-right forces.
In Cyprus, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot workers are experiencing the consequences of the capitalist crisis and the effects of the tough neo-liberal policies of the EU and the IMF, which are imposed in one way or another on both sides.
The trade unions also reconfirm their firm commitment for a bizonal, bicommunal federation in Cyprus, with a single sovereignty, identity and international personality, with political equality for both communities as described by the relevant UN decisions.
