Hamid Taqvaee’s Message on the Occasion of May Day:

This May Day in Iran is the day for expanding and deepening the revolution, which has been challenging one of the most corrupt and atrocious capitalist states of our time. This revolution, due to objective conditions and to the context of its formation is a worker revolution: this is the revolution “of all victims of oppression”. This is a revolution of a society that has been suppressed and pushed beneath the line of poverty; it is a revolution against poverty, discrimination, oppression, and deprivation; it is a revolution for a humane life. The Iranian society had welcomed the ongoing revolution through its workers’ strikes, its May Days slogans such as “a humane life is our right!” and in Student Day chanting of “Socialism or Barbarism.” This is the revolution of a society that has continuously been challenging sexual apartheid regime through its permanent anti-veil movement; this society welcomed the ongoing revolution through its city uprisings while chanting “we don’t want Islamic rule!” The ongoing revolution aims at toppling the entirety of the anti-human Islamic regime and has expressed this goal through its slogans such as “down with Khamanei” and “down with cleric rule!”

Deepening and expansion of this revolution is possible only if the masses are mobilized around the access of working class humane goals and horizon, that is, socialism. This May Day is a day for taking a first huge step toward this goal. May Day is the day of international working class’ plea against inhumane capitalist system; in Iran this plea has being declared on the streets for almost a year against one of the most atrocious capitalist states.

Working class movement can and should raise this flag in front of the revolutionary masses of people; working class can and should use its own organizations and institutions in order to declare the protests and demands of masses against the Islamic regime of capitalists. Under the existing circumstances, where the atrocities and oppressive measures of the regime alongside the obstructions made by pro-regime and right-wing opposition against the “deconstructive” offensives of the people have suspended street rallies and protests, working class’ entry to the scene of revolutionary struggle has become an essential and determining factor for the advancement of the revolution. This May Day not only can be a new beginning for street rallies and protests, but also can be a turning point in deepening and expansion of the revolution beyond the scopes of street demonstrations.

This May Day is the day to protest poverty and wages that are one third of the poverty line; is the day to plea against massacres and executions, especially those of the last year; is the day to demand immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners; is the day to demand unconditional right to assembly, organization, and strike; is the day to demand unconditional political and social freedoms; it is the day that working class declares solidarity with women’s, students’, and youth movements. This May Day is also another opportunity to acquire the support of the international working class and the entirety of freedom loving people of the world for the ongoing revolution in Iran. Working class movement should realize this task; this depends on how aware working class activists and organizations are of their role. Last May Day, two months prior to the revolutionary outburst of street demonstrations, ten working class organizations welcomed the revolution through the call for May Day meeting in Laleh Park in Tehran. This year everybody expects and hopes that the working class enters the scene but this time in order to play its determining role and push the revolution ahead. The revolution needs the showcase of working class power in order to deepen and advance.

Long Live May Day the International Day of Working Class Solidarity!
Long Live Revolution!
Long Live Socialism!

Hamid Taqvaee
Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran
April 22, 2010