International Workers’ Day, represents a day of unity for the working class, but not as an end in itself. Despite our diversity as an international class—women and men; young and old; workers and students; rural and urban; Black, Brown and white; immigrant and native-born—we should use May Day as a catalyst in our struggle to thwart the will of all the bosses—the worldwide ruling classes and their flunkeys. Their aggressive attempts to trample on all the needs and aspirations of workers everywhere will, in the end, fail and capitalism/imperialism will come crumbling down and be replaced by an egalitarian society through the means of communist revolution.

And make no mistake about it: ruling classes everywhere are becoming more and more aggressive in the race for power, where imperialist war (or war between the imperialists’ proxies) would be one of the surest strategies to increase not only their capital but also their control of the world’s resources. If we follow the strategies put in place by the bosses, our class will pay the cost: the lives of workers (soldiers and civilians), more racism and sexism, more economic and health misery.

The bosses need to increase social inequality to try to save their crumbling system, while workers need to fight back to stop them. There is no other choice. It’s “them” or “us,” and we want “us” to be the winners—short-term and long-term—in this struggle.

Rebellion needs communist focus
Workers in France are currently fighting back valiantly against the cutbacks in pension benefits that the rulers need to impose to save their system. Students are fighting side by side with them, against the class enemy, because they know that their own future is in the balance. And we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them as well. But we need to fight for more than reforms of the capitalist system. Reforms won can be taken away if the same capitalist system remains. Yes, we can win this battle but lose the war if we don’t fight to rebuild the international communist movement, fight to smash the capitalist tread-mill of reformism once and for all. This is the goal of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP)—one working class, one mass party, all fighting for the same political line!

Our world to win
Solidarity between all comrades, among workers on a planetary scale, is the only way we can win. By building the PLP, we will fight for communism everywhere, following the leadership of the most advanced among us, and fight for the emancipation of our class and transform society on an egalitarian basis.

To our comrades in the PLP and our friends everywhere: Let this May Day be the beginning of a new year of revolutionary struggle on the part of the foes of capitalism and imperialism. To all comrades, current and future: Our struggle against the bosses/ruling class will inevitably lead to a transformation of society on an egalitarian basis.

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!

CHICAGO, April 7 – Communists from Progressive Labor Party (PLP) joined with a multiracial crowd of dozens of workers and youth to organize against capitalist-caused gun violence. The occasion was an annual “Peace Walk” on the city’s northwest side, organized by various faith groups and mass organizations.

The physical and emotional trauma unleashed upon workers who are victims of gun violence is horrifically profound and wide-reaching. For many Black and Latin workers particularly, living in neighborhoods that have been systematically neglected by the city’s racist liberal mis-leadership, the damage cannot be understated.

But whatever amount of violence is committed by workers against other workers, it pales in comparison to the poverty and violence inflicted on our entire class by the racist and sexist capitalist bosses every day. Rather than relying on one set of fascist bosses to “protect” us from another set of fascist bosses, PLP calls on workers everywhere to build a mass revolutionary movement that overthrows our common oppressors and constructs a communist world where all workers are given an opportunity to thrive.

Revolutionary versus reactionary violence
The action began at the front of a local church known for social-justice organizing. A handful of speakers addressed the crowd, including those who had personally lost loved ones to gun violence. Different proposals were put forward during the speeches on how to address the violence, including praying more, pushing politicians to pass stricter gun laws, and finding ways of building community and mental health treatment among neighborhoods.

In the absence of a revolutionary communist outlook, many well-intentioned efforts from workers can get funneled into treating just the symptoms of this sick profit system and not attacking it at the root. At their worst, many of the reform campaigns pushed by the liberal Big Fascist wing of the U.S. ruling class can lead to gun laws that get enforced in racist ways and result in more criminalization and incarceration of Black and Latin workers.

To sharpen the political tone, a PLP member made a sign that read “A violent system breeds more violence – Let’s build a collective world” which was met with agreement by many in attendance. We also distributed at least ten copies of CHALLENGE newspaper to help connect this struggle to the wider international movement against capitalism with its deadly competition and wars for profit.

As communists, it’s important to make it clear that we are not pacifists – but there is a legitimate difference that must be made between reactionary violence and revolutionary violence. Reactionary violence is that violence inflicted by the bosses and the kkkops and militaries that they control to prop up their decadent system. This reactionary violence is also unfortunately used by many workers who sometimes choose to mimic the capitalist bosses to attack and prey on our own class.

On the contrary, revolutionary violence is organized force wielded by the masses under communist leadership to overcome the oppressive capitalist forces. It is ultimately what will be necessary to do away with a system that crushes so many workers and our potential every single day. Destroying capitalism is our proposal to end gun violence!

KKKops and bosses are the real gangsters
During the walk portion of the event, we were disgusted by the presence of two kkkop escorts from the racist Chicago Police Department (CPD). Although some of the marchers might be won to the idea of the cops keeping our class safe, the reality couldn’t be further from the truth – CPD is by far the biggest gang in the city!

To protest their presence, a PLP member quickly listed a number of names of Black and Latin youth gunned down by CPD in recent years and waved it in killer cops’ faces. The list  included LaQuan McDonald, Rekia Boyd, and Adam Toledo. We can expect no peace while the klan-in-blue are given free rein to stalk and terrorize our class for the benefit of their capitalist masters.

We were quick to point out to our friends at the event that it’s impossible to expect a city to take care of its youth when over one-third of the annual Chicago budget is spent on the kkkops (The Civic Federation, 6/23/20). This mind-blowing amount doesn’t even account for the payouts to workers who are victims of police terror, which in itself has amounted to close to $600 million since 2016 (WGN, 4/3).

What’s all the more telling for us workers is that all these attacks have been going on for decades with the open consent of Chicago’s Big Fascist (see Glossary, page 6) liberal leadership. New Black progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson – who predictably walked back previous claims to defund the police during his campaign – will not alter this trend. A capitalist system that is rocked by crisis has no choice but to resort to more fascist violence against workers, and all politicians back capitalism at the end of the day.

Join PLP for working-class power and collectivity
Imagine a society where all youth and workers were given the resources and means to contribute to the wellbeing of society, free of cost. Where youth engage in learning and collective action to shape society based on their interests, and practice pro-worker means of resolving conflict among ourselves. It’s not a pipe dream; it’s an egalitarian communist society! For all of us who truly want a world of peace among all working people, we invite you to join and help build PLP today.

International May Day Greetings from Columbia

Workers, comrades and friends of Progressive Labor Party (PLP), we send you all a revolutionary greeting from Colombia. We are getting ready to commemorate the international day of the working class, a day on which millions of workers around the world will march remembering their history of struggle against the exploitation inherent in the capitalist system and its disastrous consequences for the workers, who have been alienated by the search for profit maximization.

The intensification of the contradictions between big and small fascists in Colombia has shown that the bosses' democracy is a retrograde and corrupt system that does not work for the benefit of the proletariat, which is why it must be destroyed by workers' power.  It cannot be reformed.
Capitalism has created a world where women, men and children die en masse due to poverty, hunger, racist and sexist violence, police brutality and environmental destruction. Unemployment, wage slavery, sexism and war undermine the rebellious consciousness preventing the red flag from waving around the world.

In this way, the revolution will only be possible with the strengthening of working class consciousness and organizing the struggle through the revolutionary line of PLP, self-criticism being a key element in the process of defeating the dark night.

Our call for the workers of the world is to strengthen our work, being creative, dedicated and dialectical. The road to revolution is long and adverse but possible, even though the enemies of communism and the working class present it as something illusory and outdated.

On this May Day in Colombia, many comrades and friends of PLP will march through the streets of Bogotá, many of them unemployed young people and constant victims of state repression and its policies of misery and hunger. We will be demonstrating our growing interest in defeating capitalism with communist revolution.

Everything we do in favor of the communist cause counts, which is why in Colombia we organize ourselves in favor of the confrontations of our class sisters and brothers in their collective struggles, seeking to form new study groups around CHALLENGE and the dissemination of PLP’s line.

When the resurgence of fascism becomes imminent, the fight becomes even more urgent. So, our fighting cry is an open invitation to all the comrades of the world to break the chains that capitalism has imposed on us. LET US ALL FIGHT to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat and the arrival of the glorious communist dawn.

Forward working class, let's strengthen PLP and its communist line!