The international class-oriented trade union movement, workers, and militant trade unions around the world honor, through struggle, the 140th anniversary of the workers’ struggle in Chicago in 1886. They honor the heroic May Day of the working class, symbol of the relentless struggle against capitalist barbarity, with new class struggles, determination, and internationalist solidarity.
On the occasion of International Workers’ Day, the World Federation of Trade Unions, the most historic international trade union organization, representing more than 105 million workers in every corner of the world, extends a warm and militant message to all workers and farmers, to the ordinary people of labor and toil.
The messages and demands of the pioneers of Chicago in 1886 remain relevant and necessary today. The crisis of capitalism is deepening and generalizing. Social inequalities are dramatically widening. Democratic freedoms and trade union rights are under attack across the world, while imperialist wars and interventions are on the agenda.
International developments confirm that global geopolitical and economic antagonisms continue to directly threat to world peace and security, including the danger of nuclear catastrophe. Imperialist wars, interventions, sanctions, and blockades continue and intensify.
The genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza and the unimaginable brutality by the Israeli state, the unprovoked and murderous attack by the United States and Israel against Iran, the invasion of Venezuela and the abduction of the country’s legitimate president, the terrorist threats against socialist Cuba and the attempt to strangle its economy and its people through the criminal energy embargo, have once again exposed, in all its magnitude, the hypocrisy, cynicism, and inhuman nature of imperialism.
Military expenditures are rising explosively, while organizations such as NATO and the European Union intensify militarization and promote the war economy as a “developmental outlet.” At the same time, peoples are called upon to pay the cost through new austerity measures, privatizations, and the dismantling of social gains.
At the same time, the energy crisis, inflation, and high prices continue to erode workers’ incomes. Wages remain stagnant, while the profits of multinational corporations and energy giants soar.
The consequences of this situation hit the most vulnerable sections of the working class even harder. Women workers, youth, and migrants face intensified exploitation, lower wages, greater job insecurity, and limited access to Health, Education and Culture. They are the first victims of anti-worker policies and labor deregulation, making them particularly exposed to the attacks of capital.
At the same time, health and safety in the workplace are being systematically degraded. Protective measures are treated as a “cost” by employers, leading to the increase of accidents in workplace and fatalities. Every day, workers are injured or lose their lives on the altar of profit, revealing in the most tragic way the priorities of the system.
The new era of digitalization and artificial intelligence, instead of being utilized for the benefit of the workers and society as a whole, is used to intensify labor, monitor workers, and expand flexible forms of employment. Insecurity, precarious work, and the deregulation of labor relations are becoming generalized.
At the same time, state and employer repression against struggles is intensifying. Trade unionists are persecuted, strikes are criminalized, and democratic freedoms are restricted. Migrants and refugees are targeted, used as cheap labor, and become victims of racism and exploitation.
Faced with this reality, the response of the working class cannot be submission.
We demand:
• Wage increases and collective labor agreements with full rights
• Effective measures to protect against high prices and inflation
• Public and free healthcare, education, and social security for all
• Reduction of work-time, permanent employment with stable working hours, abolition of flexible forms of labor and protection for workers on digital platforms
• Health and safety measures in all workplaces
• Respect for trade union rights and democratic freedoms
• Protection of migrants and equal rights for all workers
Workers have no interest in the wars and antagonisms of those who have the power. On the contrary, they have everything to gain from unity, solidarity, and common struggle.
The WFTU calls on trade unions to reject compromise and submission. To strengthen their struggles and organize resistance in every workplace, every sector, and every country, against the barbarity of the system of profit and war.
Strength lies in organization. Hope lies in struggle.
On the occasion of May Day 2026, we call for militant mobilizations across the world under the slogan:
Our lives and our needs or their profits!
• No sacrifices for the wars and profits of the capital
• Work with rights, regulated by collective agreements
• Fulfillment of the contemporary needs of the workers
Solidarity and internationalism are the weapons of the working class!
Let this year’s May Day be a milestone of struggle and counteroffensive, for a world without imperialist wars and interventions, without discrimination and exploitation of man by man.
LONG LIVE MAY DAY!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONALIST SOLIDARITY!
