April 20, 2001

Statement By Wellington Mayday Activists

Press Release: Mayday2001=20

Carnival Against Capitalism
Mayday 2001 Global Day of Action
Our Resistance is as Global as their Capital

What is Mayday?

The 1st of May is the day when we celebrate struggles against class society & demonstrate our internationalism. Mayday was adopted by the workers movement as the day to celebrate the general strike for an 8 hour day led by the anarchist Haymarket Matyrs who were executed in 1886. Last Mayday saw huge demonstrations & strikes all around the world.

This Mayday, like previous years, is a global day of action where people of different movements & different countries will join forces for a day of protest against the social, political & economic institutions of the capitalist system. Workers, the unemployed, students, trade unionists, indigenous peoples, peasants, the landless, women s groups, ethnic minorities, peace activists, environmentalists and so on will work in solidarity with one another in the understanding that their various struggles are not isolated from each other.

Why Anti-Capitalism?

After a century of pretending to reform itself into a more humane system, capitalism can now only show itself as unrestrained exploitation. It's constant drive for profit compels it to ruin the environment, provoke wars, exploit indigenous peoples and force everyone to work harder and longer. Increasingly people are becoming angry with debt-ridden, stressful lives over which they have no control.

The media are keen to misdirect this anger against fellow workers, indigenous people, asylum seekers or beneficiaries. But the mass protests against capitalism show that people are beginning to direct their anger against the real source of their problems: capitalism.

Get Involved!

So come & join us on Mayday for a day of anti-capitalist action, a day to remember, and take inspiration from those who have fought before us.

We will start at two different meeting places at Victoria University Quad at 1pm or the Freedom Shop (272 Cuba St.) at 12 noon. Join us at either of these places for an afternoon of mobile protest, music, carnival & a celebration of resistance. Or if you can't manage 12 noon you can join us later in the day at Midland Park on Lambton Quay at about 4pm, and then making our way up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for a demo at 4.45pm)

(The Wellington MayDay activities are organised by a loose umbrella group including a diversity of activists wanting to fight capitalism. Check out our website at: www.mayday2001.org/wellington)