Successful United May Day Banquet

Held in Winnipeg

Over 220 people attended a May Day banquet and social-political evening in Winnipeg on April 29. The banquet was organized by the United May Day Committee, which is comprised of 20 progressive political, labour and social activist organizations. It was hosted by Karen Naylor, from the Manitoba Branch of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and George Floresco, President of the Winnipeg Local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

The banquet was held in the main hall of the historic Ukrainian Labour Temple, which was built in 1919 and served as a centre of progressive and revolutionary culture and political activity for several decades. Carved in stone over its entrance is the slogan of the revolutionary working class, "Workers of the World, Unite". The hall was festively decorated and the banners of many of the sponsoring organizations were hung on the back wall. Two large banners were stretched across the front of the hall - "United May Day Committee" and "May Day, International Working Class Day". On the opposite wall was a banner with the slogan "Workers of All Countries, Unite". Literature from a number of the organizations was displayed on tables at the back of the room.

The event began with brief opening remarks from Karen Naylor, who pointed out that the large turnout for the banquet confirmed the rumour that the "left" in Winnipeg is united. She outlined the history of the struggle in Winnipeg to maintain the revolutionary traditions of May Day and to force organized Labour to recognize the day as International Workers Day. She said that the fact that all of the opponents of May Day have now recognized it represented a victory for the left on this front, but warned that there are still those who would like to convert May Day into another Labour Day, totally devoid of struggle.

Following an enjoyable meal, spokespersons for 16 of the sponsoring organizations presented greetings on behalf of their respective organizations. All of them emphasized the importance of maintaining and further strengthening the unity of the movement which was reflected in the banquet. Greetings to the banquet were also presented by two CLC youth representatives and a message of congratulations from Becky Barrett, the Minister of Labour of Manitoba, was read out.

Jean-Claude Parrot, past-president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and a Vice-President of the CLC then addressed the gathering. He spoke of the work to convince the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions to recognize International Workers Day and the need for all activists in the trade unions and social justice organizations to put aside their differences and work together to achieve their aims. He said that the struggle has been long and difficult, but that the way things are going in Canada, workers will not have to rely on the government to declare May Day an official holiday; they will simply take the day as their own.

Following his remarks, the participants joined in the singing of The Internationale, led by members of the Winnipeg Labour Choir. Informal discussion and socializing then continued for several hours. The general consensus was that the banquet was a complete success and that such united May Day banquets will become a tradition in Winnipeg.