RCPB(ML) sends its militant May Day greetings to working people throughout the world. May First is the day of international working class unity, the day of expressing our common cause in the struggle to bring about a world without war, without exploitation, with the recognition of the rights of all by virtue of being human. This is the new world where the rights of the individual are inseparably linked with the rights of all, where all participate in deciding their own future, where society is organised for human interests, not private interests. It is a world where the social wealth produced by the working class is put to use for the producers themselves.

This May Day takes place in the year of fighting for the alternative. In the face of deepening counter-revolution, the fight of the people for the alternative has become an historical imperative. The urgent need is a fundamental change in the direction of society and the economy, for the workers themselves to be the decision-makers.

Modern democratic renewal requires an anti-war, pro-social, pro-worker government that ends rule by so-called representatives. The economic direction must change: stop subsidising the rich, invest in social programmes, unify individual and collective interests. The working class cannot afford divisions manufactured by the Westminster cartel. It must affirm that those who create new value in society - the workers themselves - can provide solutions to the crisis.

The alternative arises from this period of transition. It is a condition in which working people themselves constitute the authority, deciding matters directly, intervening to ensure that whatever the ruling class implements at their expense cannot succeed. Working people must determine what must be done. The working class must have its own vantage point, starting not from bemoaning the crisis but from the power of producers to organise the economy for the well-being of all.

This May marks the centenary of the 1926 General Strike. The long-term task opened then was completing the democratic revolution by vesting sovereignty in the people, not state representatives. The strike was not merely defensive. In nine days, workers demonstrated their potential to take up the solutions to society's crisis, opening the path to a new society constituted by themselves. The enduring issue from 1926 of who decides, of political power, stands out in even sharper relief today as workers are faced with the task to constitute authority themselves.

Today, unions face renewed struggle as civil society and any social contract with the state and employers have broken down. This May also marks one year since the Birmingham bin workers' strikes began in March 2025. The council's refusal to negotiate and its reliance on police powers laid bare the character of this commissioner-run regime. Yet the bin workers remain determined. They demand their dignity and their voice. Enough Is Enough!

On May Day 2026, RCPB(ML) extends militant greetings to the working people of Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, and across the Middle East, all resisting war, occupation, genocide, and defending their right to be. We salute the people of Venezuela and Cuba, who despite blockade and imperialist aggression continue to build a human-centred society. We salute the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, of Viet Nam, and of other countries affirming their right to be and their socialist path.

The old world is sustained by austerity, police powers, and war. The new world is built by every collective refusal to bow to the dictate of the rich, speak in our own name, and fight for an anti-war government. The working class must lead all working people to fight for their own rights in a manner that upholds the rights of all. The workers, the producers of social wealth, must take it on themselves to keep the oligarchs in check in today's world, and set their sights on taking hold of what belongs to them.

Stop Paying the Rich! Increase Investments in Social Programmes!
For A New Direction for the Economy!
Uphold the Dignity of Labour!
Defend the Rights of Workers! Defend the Rights of All!
Fight for an Anti-War Government!

Let us fight for the New and leave the Old behind. Workers and Oppressed Peoples of All Countries, Unite!