ON May Day we celebrate International Workers’ Day and the achievements of the labour movement.

The 1904 Conference of the Second International called on “all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.”

In 2022, May Day demonstrations continue, and socialists continue to campaign for working-class demands and for universal peace, not least here in Wales.

Welsh Labour was re-elected in 2021 on Mark Drakeford’s radical programme, which is reflected in the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.

The Programme for Government sets Welsh Labour apart from conservative or so-called “centrist” approaches in Westminster. 

And much of this programme is grounded in the transformative Labour general election manifestos of 2017 and 2019.

From expanding universal provision, the establishment of public companies to deliver public services, implementing a real living wage, trialling a basic income, standing against discrimination and promoting a culture of peace, the Welsh Labour government’s approach seeks to champion the spirit of May Day and make a material difference to working-class people’s day-to-day lives. 

Welsh government will soon deliver free school meals to all Welsh primary school pupils, something I am a strong believer in and have long campaigned for.

The government is also committed to the implementation of its Race Equality Action Plan and to establishing Academi Heddwch — a Peace Academy in Wales. 

Welsh government has also pursued a number of groundbreaking measures to safeguard working-class futures, not seen elsewhere in the UK, including embedding its social partnership model through a Social Partnership and Public Procurement Bill and by appointing the world’s first future generations commissioner to encourage long-term thinking and future-proof policy-making.

The real living wage is now being delivered for care workers, and the Welsh government is piloting a basic income for care-leavers. 

But these things don’t happen in a vacuum. They happened because Welsh people campaign on these issues and create an atmosphere where such ideas gain traction, and eventually, the support of policy-makers. 

That is the key to driving change. 

On free school meals, for instance, the momentum for this came from the work of campaigners from People’s Assembly Wales, the Bevan Foundation, Child Poverty Action Group, the Wales Anti-Poverty Coalition and others. 

The decision to pilot a basic income in Wales came about because of the determination and hard work of organisations like UBI Lab Network, and pressure from a range of grassroots campaigners.

The work on race equality has been in part a response to public outcry and the Black Lives Matter uprising in May 2020. 

This is how change happens, and there is a lot we need to change. 

As I write, the working class in Wales and across the UK is facing a cost-of-living crisis as inflation outstrips rises in pay and social security. 

Everything is going up, while government austerity and the profits of employers are keeping people’s incomes down. 

In Cynon Valley, I have surveyed local residents about their personal finances and hundreds replied telling me what is causing them the greatest difficulty.

I’m now organising a cost-of-living campaign to respond to those concerns, seeking to draw together volunteers, build a petition of demands, and work with our new Rhondda Cynon Taf Trades Union Council to demonstrate locally our opposition to the crisis.

We need to fundamentally change the way we value people. I want to use this opportunity to echo the Bevan Foundation’s call for a “Living Wage Wales,” where workers get a decent day’s pay for a hard day’s work. 

We have taken action on that locally, bringing together Citizens Cymru and others to discuss the possibility of designating Cynon Valley a “Fair Pay Valley,” the first of its kind. 

The Welsh government has shown clear leadership and direction on climate change, and the newly formed Climate Ministry has ambitious targets. 

To achieve these, we need to involve people, and garner public support and understanding. As Shav Taj from the Wales TUC wrote this week, we need to be honest and upfront with people about the climate crisis and the transition we need to make as a society.

The coming transition must be rapid, and fair, with workers at its heart, fully involved in planning for this transition.

This May Day and going forward we can and will present fairer, greener, socialist policies that put people before profit.

When we march together in June, we show the world that we can and we will fight back against the inhumane, undemocratic and damaging policies of this rotten Tory government. 

We can, and we will, win. 

Whether it’s the establishment of the NHS, votes for women or recognition of workers’ rights, if history teaches us anything, it is that we must fight and campaign for what we want.

Let’s get to it. 

Bethan Winter is Labour member of Parliament for Cynon Valley.