ACROSS Britain, May Day will be celebrated after a year of massive trade union action and community protests.

May Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate those struggles and show support for the battles against the cost-of-living crisis.

Fighting the consequences of the cost of living increases and the economic system that creates it unites all of us — except the rich.

There is no part of society that is not affected by the current crisis, from pensioners and public services, including health and education, to those in work and those on benefits.

London May Day will look to show the unity of those struggles, building the solidarity necessary for success.

London May Day has faced a few challenges to be able to take place, but it goes on its traditional route, starting from historic Clerkenwell Green near Farringdon Station at midday today.

With speakers like Mick Lynch from RMT and Angela Grant from PCS, it will make its usual impact when it reaches Trafalgar Square.

We are all boosted by the struggles in so many areas, from the mass action of health workers, transport workers, teachers, university staff, civil servants, manufacturing workers, Amazon workers — the list goes on and on.

We remember the efforts of so many of our class to keep the country going during the height of Covid. As is often said, we came out to applaud those essential workers — no-one came out to applaud bankers or hedge fund managers.

The same battles are faced by workers across the world. In country after country, the rulers seek to cut what the majority get while boosting the income of the rich and super-rich.

As in Britain, that means cutting public services, privatisation and restricting trade union activity.

Our fellow trade unionists in France are leading a massive fight against attacks on pension provision, where a majority of the population opposes the cuts but the government tries to plough on regardless.

Across the world there will be massive demonstrations today, resisting an economic system which has the ludicrous situation of ordinary people facing massive fuel and food bills while the multinational giants controlling oil, gas, electricity and water earn greater and greater profits.

This is a system that allows a tiny group to make super-profits at our expense without having to do anything other than rely on that free-market system.

May Day allows us to renew the fight against such a system and its consequences: poverty, racism, destruction of the ecosystem, inequality in so many forms, imbalance between regions in the world and threats to peace.

There is a need to build up the importance of May Day as such a unifying force and the continuing call for May 1 to be a public holiday in Britain, as it is in so many other countries.

That requires it to be part of trade union education and strengthening our understanding of the lessons of the past to strengthen the fights of today and the future.

Roger Sutton is organiser of the London May Day Organising Committee.