Pace of capitalist crises increases as banks collapse
New York Times, 5/5–A cluster of regional banks scrambled on Thursday to convince the public of their financial soundness, even as their stock prices plunged and investors took bets on which might be the next to fall. The tumult brought questions about the future of the lenders to the fore, suggesting a new phase in the crisis that began two months ago with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and was punctuated on Monday by the seizure and sale of First Republic Bank…The trading was a reminder that the crisis may yet continue, belying predictions that the situation would be calmer after JPMorgan Chase came to an agreement with government officials to acquire the ailing First Republic. Regulators agreed to assume billions of dollars of potential losses lurking on First Republic’s books, and JPMorgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, declared immediately after the acquisition that “this part of the crisis is over.”

India’s bosses use old recipe of tribal violence to control workers
Al Jazeera, 5/7–At least 54 people have reportedly been killed and some 23,000 people displaced, most of them sheltering in army camps, in ethnic violence in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, according to military officials. On Sunday, the army said it had “significantly enhanced” its surveillance in violence-affected areas, including the Imphal Valley, through aerial means such as drones and the deployment of military helicopters.

The unrest in Manipur state erupted on Wednesday after a protest march organized by the Kuki tribal group sparked clashes with the Meitei non-tribal group, resulting in widespread damage to vehicles and properties. Authorities on Thursday issued “shoot-at-sight” orders and called military reinforcement to quell the violence that opened a new faultline in the state with a checkered history of ethnic violence. Internet connection was cut off after violence broke out on Wednesday and a curfew was imposed in nine out of the 16 districts.

The Meiteis…Hindu community, which is based in the state’s capital city of Imphal, forms more than 50 percent of the state’s population of 3.5 million, as per India’s last census in 2011. The Naga and Kuki tribes…two mostly Christian tribes form around 40 percent of the state’s population, and enjoy “Scheduled Tribe” status, which gives them land-owning rights in the hills and forests.

U.S. control of Guyana expands as oil profits flow
Reuters, 4/27–Exxon Mobil Corp and its partners have approved a $12.7 billion investment for their fifth and most expensive offshore oil project in Guyana, the U.S. firm said in a statement. The project called Uaru will produce up to 250,000 barrels of oil and gas per day…The decision coincides with Exxon considering whether to expand its holdings in Guyana through an auction of oil blocks set for July. Exxon and partners Hess Corp and CNOOC Ltd control all production in the South American nation, which according to consultancy Rystad Energy is set to leapfrog the United States next decade as one of the world’s largest offshore producers. “Our Guyana investments and unrivaled development success continue to contribute to secure, reliable global energy supplies,” said Liam Mallon, president of Exxon’s oil and gas producing business.

Cuban rulers rule out May Day march - again
BBC, 4/30–Every year hundreds of thousands of people are bussed in from across the island to fill Havana’s Revolution Square on International Workers’ Day. It is the first time since the 1959 revolution that the celebrations have been cancelled for economic reasons. In recent weeks long queues have formed at petrol stations, with drivers often waiting for days. Cuban authorities have traditionally mobilised huge resources to ensure the success of the May Day parade, transporting workers en masse to Havana. Before this year, the event had only ever been cancelled in 2020 and 2021, because of the Covid pandemic.

My first May Day: ‘I was in the right place’
This past Saturday I marched in my first May Day parade, arriving to shouts of “rain or shine baby, rain or shine!” It was incredible to move down Flatbush Avenue as a unit in our red ponchos shouting “who are we? PLP!” I joined the Progressive Labor Party this past August, after seven years of working alongside and learning from Party members in countless struggles with the NYC Department of Education. Throughout those struggles we got some wins, but I came to realize, first, that under capitalism our wins could only be temporary, and second, that the working class was fully capable of running things themselves. Listening to the Kingsborough students describe their fight back against their racist administration reinforced my belief that I was in the right place. Today I read a quote from a worker who was protesting the tragic murder of Jordan Neely in the NYC subway–a predictable tragedy under a system that casts people struggling with mental illness to the streets to fend for themselves. When asked why he was protesting the worker responded “I kind of felt hopeless. I just wanted to be in community with other people and not feel so helpless.” For me, the community that can make the change we need is PLP.

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Rutger striker: ‘incredibly powerful’
This was my first May Day celebration! Despite the inclement weather, the spirits were high and I loved getting to meet a legion of new comrades. After a long and tough year, it felt great to celebrate the wins and remember those we have lost. This year was full of firsts for me, my first year working “full-time” as a “part-time” worker, my first strike, and my first full-time union job offer (with real benefits)!

Worker power is stronger than ever, and the number of unions, strikes, and community organizing keeps growing across the United States. Taking a moment to remember that we are all in this fight together is
what May Day is all about.

Even in the rain, the feeling of solidarity was pulsing through the crowd. It was incredibly powerful to hear from fellow workers fighting for  justice and equality throughout the country and the world. Our experiences of oppression and injustice in a global capitalist system may be different, but our chains are linked, and we can only lift the hammer of revolution to free ourselves through solidarity.

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The folloing letters are International May Day Greeetings!
Our Party, the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) has been sending out the alert to the workers of the world that the capitalist, imperialist world needs wars, big and small, as they fight each other to secure their profits. Every day events show that this is real and inevitable. The end of the reign of the U.S. capitalists is not acceptable to the Western imperialists. They are ready and willing to shed every last drop of our blood to keep their power.

The war in Ukraine, for example, is leading to an escalation of economic and financial difficulties throughout the planet. The risk of major conflict in Taiwan is drastically increasing. Meanwhile, the struggle for the riches of the African continent continues to escalate between the Western powers, Russia and China. Alliances shift between countries according to their capitalist interests.

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The working class, our class, is the most threatened by the escalation of conflict among the world’s bosses. Exploitation, poverty, hunger, lack of free access to clean water and health care,  racism and sexism: these capitalist ills are on the rise throughout the world. So, comrades, we must say no to the capitalists' wars for profit. We must shout loudly, “Turn the guns around!” and prepare to fight in our own class interests.

Our war is the war to bring about communist revolution, the war to end once and for all the criminal capitalist system. Our war is the war to save the planet from the destruction caused by the profit system. Our war is to build an egalitarian world free of racism, sexism, and poverty. Comrades, this May Day—and every day—we are organizing workers wherever we live and work to remind our class that the fate of the world is in our hands, that we must pick up the red flag of communist revolution and foil the capitalists’ plans. We must amplify revolutionary struggle.

In this tumult of war, in these moments of uncertainty and torment for the working class, our Party must continue to grow, strengthen and expand. Despite a most monstrous level of misery for workers by the criminal bosses and their flunkies, the Progressive Labor Party in Haiti is organizing workers and students to bring them into the Party and to fight for communist revolution. We are in working class communities, involved in struggles big and small, to win our class brothers and sisters to understand the roots of the tremendous exploitation they face and why egalitarian communism is the only solution. We are in schools and universities to win students, teachers and campus workers to fight back against the miserable conditions that capitalism has created. Our Party is modest, but our commitment is growing: our confidence in the working class and the Party expands our possibilities. Criticism against practices of the capitalists and the communist solidarity that we struggle to show every day allows us to build trust in the masses and allows the masses to have trust in the Party.

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The PLP in Haiti sends you these revolutionary greetings. Let the struggle of the working class and its communist party—the PLP—continue! Let our voices ring out loudly along our marches and in all our May Day events: “Workers of all countries, unite! We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

BALTIMORE, MD, April 8—With increasing hostilities among the imperialist powers pitting workers against their international class sisters and brothers, our job as communists is to continuously point to international revolutionary struggle as the only reasonable answer. This capitalist system must be destroyed and replaced with an egalitarian communist society run by workers. Twenty-six people, including members (PL’ers) of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP), joined at a local park to celebrate the history and significance of the international workers’ holiday May Day, and to inform people of upcoming local May Day celebrations.

A custom playlist of revolutionary, pop, hip hop, and R&B songs from the 1950s to the present accompanied the outdoor dinner. People brought food, drinks, and desserts—with jerk chicken and homemade deviled eggs being the highlights of the dinner. One comrade’s family member even volunteered to grill burgers and hotdogs. Flags decorated with “Progressive Labor Party” and a triumphant fist were hung from the roof of the pavilion rented for the day.

Building an army to crush the bosses
Baltimore PL’ers are creating a plan to actively recruit more members, with hopes of doubling our size by May Day 2025. Hosting May Day dinners not only emboldens the newer leadership, but also strengthens the confidence that our working class sisters and brothers have in the Party. We are serious about pushing for a revolutionary transformation of the horrendous kkkapitalist system. Hosting dinners and cadre schools with the focus on connecting our local struggles to capitalist terror and war abroad reflects the commitment we in the Party have to our class in Baltimore and worldwide.

The dinner included a program filled with important talks about current reform struggles against police brutality and attacks against transgender students and workers, who have been heavily scapegoated and vilified by gutter racists and politicians. Comrades in Kentucky coincidentally led a rally against these sexist attacks on transgender youth and workers the same day. There was also a spoken word piece about the doomed future of youth under a capitalist system and a short comedic play performed by PL’ers. A friend of the Party, who wrote the play, used it as a tool to describe what communism is.

One comrade illustrated her experience working with college peers in a student organization at a predominantly white, liberal arts college. Everyone engaged in the program, listening as PL’ers upheld working class solidarity and gave critical analysis of capitalism’s deliberate tragedies and destruction of society.

No money, and no nations
Despite the unpredictably cold spring weather (Maryland isn’t known for the smoothest start to spring), everyone enjoyed the company, discussions, and political program. One attendee wrote to a comrade afterward, “I loved reading the PLP paper, and am especially happy about the concept of no money, and no nations.”

A previously active comrade came and also encouraged people to attend the May Day rally in Brooklyn. After a few years away from the Baltimore club, her attendance and enthusiasm to hold up our CHALLENGE newspaper was greatly appreciated. One attendee remarked, at the end of the gathering, that he learned a lot more about communism from the program. Comrades from DC and Virginia also came towards the dinner’s end, reinforcing our practice of local clubs supporting each other in our area.

As we ramp up our efforts for May Day and summer actions, we remember that our daily actions must be rooted in the workers, since we are the ones with the power to shut the entire system down. Workers know this, have seen this, and it is our responsibility as revolutionaries to ensure that the process is pushed with communism and multiracial leadership at the forefront. Until we win!