International Migrants Alliance Post Release for May Day

MIGRANT WORKERS, REFUGEES, AND DISPLACED PEOPLE LINK UP WITH LOCAL WORKERS TO ADVANCE POWERFUL CAMPAIGNS, CALLS, AND DEMANDS

Reference: Eni Lestari, Chairperson, ima.sect@gmail.com

MAY 1 – The more than 100 member organizations of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) triumphantly planned and executed several actions all over the world, highlighting the struggles of migrant workers, refugees, and displaced peoples and their unity in struggle with working and oppressed people globally. IMA echoed its call for migrant and local workers to unite to resist neoliberal exploitation and advance genuine peace, justice, and prosperity, underscoring that whether migrant worker or local worker, we are all the same working class and can aspire to a world without imperialism.

Here are highlights of some of the May Day Rallies from IMA members all over the world:

Before May 1 itself, IMA members already organized and held activities for May Day and related to it. On April 29, Migrante International held an online rally to bring migrant workers, returned migrants, and their families together via the internet as an online May Day rally so that their members can also join the May Day protests on the day itself. A few other organizations also held online rallies before May 1.

May Day itself saw a variety of protests, actions, rallies, and demonstrations that exposed the exploitation and oppression of imperialism, the struggle of workers, and the arduous commitment to advancing the rights and welfare of the oppressed and exploited.

In Aotearoa/New Zealand, the Migrant Action Trust held an Employment Rights Online Workshop. Meanwhile, several members of IMA in Australia staged a public protest calling for the end of imperialist wars and aggression, and end to exploitative labor conditions, and to scrap the cap on work hours for international students. They also joined a larger activity in Australia joining the call to uphold the treaty on nuclear weapons, end the mental torture of detained refugees in Australia, and rejecting war alliances between various imperialist powers. In Dhaka Bangladesh, Films4Peace Foundation called for safety and health at work to save lives while BOMSA organized a human chain.

In Canada, AWARE and the Immigrant Workers Centre staged a rally and a march. In Chile, one of the main calls of the Coordinadora Nacional de Inmigrantes was #MigrarNoEsDelito (to migrate is not a crime) calling attention to the recent criminalization of migration and militarization of borders in the USA and European Union. They called for worker solidarity among local workers and migrant workers. Similarly, FUNREDES also organized a demonstration in Colombia recognizing the victories and struggles of workers.

In Hong Kong, the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body discussed workers rights and protections with the Labour Department and the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants wished migrant workers and local workers support for May Day. Migrante Japan organized a demonstration also calling for an end to criminalization of migrants and to give asylum seekers compassion. Migrante Korea joined many other migrant worker and local worker organizations to call for an end to forced work arrangements and allow for workers to change employers freely.

In Senegal, trade unions and migrant workers came together for a May Day demonstration, with CNTS at the helm. In Taiwan, GANAS community joined others to outline their basic demands and aspirations: decent wages, legal protections for domestic workers, decent wages, and an end to the extortion of migrant workers by agencies. In the United States, construction workers and members of FUIE came together for a grand unity march with other progressive and worker organizations.

There were many more actions, rallies, protests, and demonstrations that occurred during International Workers Day and related activities that IMA organized, participated in, and supported, and many more that will happen. On the week of May 1 until May 9, Himigrante in Thailand will be playing progressive workers’ songs online. IMA Hong Kong and Macau are also planning a Labour Day Rally on May 7.

On May 12, IMA will be joining its fellow alliances and networks to host the Online Forum for Food, Land and Climate Justice: Rural Peoples Unite vs G7, continuing IMA’s efforts to expose the G7 policies and to hold the G7 accountable.

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