A-Infos (en) France, UCL Press Release - For an Internationalist May Day! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

May Day holds great historical significance within the anarchist 
movement and global social movements. Originally a mobilization in the 
United States in support of the eight-hour workday, which was brutally 
repressed, this day subsequently became a global movement, celebrated 
worldwide as a symbol of class struggle by unions, political 
organizations, and the people. While the ruling class has attempted to 
strip it of its origins as a day of struggle and class solidarity, we 
must never forget its true roots.

Global Stagnation and Struggle

The global economy has slowed in recent years: advanced economies are 
experiencing very weak growth, China has slowed from its previous rapid 
pace, and the rest of the world is failing to accelerate enough to close 
the gap. At the same time, the distribution of income and, above all, 
wealth has deteriorated to the point that the living standards of a 
large segment of the working class are declining.

The class struggle continues to intensify, while the organized labor 
movement has reached an extremely low point globally. At the same time, 
the far right has grown and, in concert with the bourgeoisie, is 
attacking the existing social protection systems and institutions that 
workers have won through decades of struggle.

Alongside this social destruction, all sectors of society are 
experiencing increasing militarization, which permeates every aspect of 
political life. One of the major issues today lies in the question of 
war and militarization, which serve both as a means for the bourgeoisie 
to accumulate more wealth, to save the crumbling capitalist economic 
system, and to divert the anger of young workers against themselves.

In many countries, the major unions are not yet able to form a united 
front against attacks from above, but there is nevertheless growing 
dissent within the rank and file and beyond. As protests, mostly 
spontaneous and violent, erupt around the world, a trend is emerging 
within popular movements toward strengthening militancy through 
neighborhood and union organizing.

Imperial Decline, Imperialist War

The economic power of the United States has been declining for several 
decades, but a turning point occurred last year. Instead of clinging to 
its own order, the United States has reinstated the law of the jungle 
and is waging wars of territorial expansion, political revenge, and 
outright plunder, with no justification other than its own capacity to 
do so.

The result is a world engulfed by bloody conflicts. Trump has 
transformed Venezuela into an imperialist vassal state whose oil 
industry is under American control and has launched a deadly war against 
Iran, in collaboration with Israel. Meanwhile, Israel, emboldened by the 
impunity it enjoys for its genocide in Gaza, is de facto annexing 
southern Syria, intensifying its ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and 
is now invading Lebanon, with the aim of occupying its southern region.

The phase we are currently experiencing is proof of a historical truth: 
capitalism is not a harmonious system that can be rationalized or 
programmed, because the entire capitalist system is incapable of 
eliminating its internal conflicts, which sometimes erupt even violently 
with war as the inevitable consequence.

Wars must be interpreted in light of their concrete social and class 
dynamics: it is the bourgeoisies that "attack" each other, not the vast 
masses of wage earners, because in no country do the latter possess the 
capital and power that are the exclusive prerogative of these same 
bourgeoisies who fight to continue exploiting.

It is the "propertyless" masses those who possess nothing but their 
labor power who are exploited, attacked, and dragged into the bloody 
wars of capital: in Ukraine, as in Sudan, Palestine, Iran, and 
throughout the Middle East, as well as in the more than fifty conflicts 
that cause death, immense destruction, and force tens of thousands of 
human beings to flee their countries in search of better living 
conditions. It is essential to understand that global diplomacy is 
precisely constituted by these bourgeoisies attacking one another within 
the framework of a generalized imperialist conflict.

What must be done

As the crisis of global capitalism deepens and the international order 
collapses, a solution emerging from the working class is absolutely 
essential. We have the capacity to wrest power from the capitalists only 
if we organize to take control of our workplaces. This is the only means 
available to the working class. It is our leverage against the ruling 
class. It is our best weapon, and we must strengthen its power.

We must expand the struggles to defend the living conditions of the 
working classes and revive the libertarian communist project as the 
horizon toward which we strive. We must strengthen the internationalist 
unity of workers worldwide against militarism and imperialist wars, 
against the hunger, misery, devastation, and death they impose.

Let us celebrate May Day this year in the streets with our comrades to 
demonstrate our strength and international solidarity.

It is more important than ever to unite, to celebrate this day, and 
above all, to fight for our rights.

May 1st must not be a static day where we merely reminisce about the 
past. It must be a rallying point against capitalism, imperialism, and 
all forms of oppression in the world.

There is much to be done, because we have a world to conquer.

Joint statement from the Libertarian Communist Union (France), the 
Anarchist Communist Federation (Australia), Die Plattform (Germany), 
Black Rose Rosa Negra (USA), and Alternativa Libertaria (Italy), May 1, 
2026.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Pour-un-1er-Mai-internationaliste
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