May Day 2015 Anti-Capitalist Demonstration

"It's not enough to fight austerity; the real enemy is Capitalism!

Montréal, May 1st, 2015 -- Today the working and oppressed classes of the world took to the streets to celebrate the 125th anniversary of International Worker’s Day.

For the eighth consecutive year, an autonomous demonstration is planned in Montréal to highlight and celebrate the anticapitalist nature of the international May Day tradition.

Once again, Montreal's Anti-Capitalist Convergence (CLAC-Montréal) has refused to collaborate with authorities, negotiate the terms of its march, or give its itinerary to police. “It’s absurd for the working class and the exploited to have to negotiate the terms of their exploitattion with the ruling class, and it would be just as absurd for us to fall into the trap of negotiating the terms of our rebellion with sell-out politicians or the system’s watchdogs,” said Rich Bonemeal, spokesperson for the CLAC. “It’s our dissent, it’s our rebellion, and May 1st is our day. We don’t have to ask permission, say please and thank you, or apologize for our presence disrupting the course of capitalist activity. We are in the streets because we want to be disruptive. It’s a right you don’t ask for, it’s a right you have to claim!”

This year’s anticapitalist May 1st demonstration is part of a larger call for a social strike from a coalition of organizations and groups involved in the current struggle against austerity measures. Throughout the day there were dozens of actions and demonstrations all over the province, sending a clear message to the government that their cuts to public services are unacceptable.

While the popular movement againt austerity is legitimate and necessary, the CLAC believes it’s only the beginning. “In many ways,” said Rich Bonemeal, “we can’t see the forest for the tree that is austerity. Sooner or later we’ll have to face the fact that it’s the capitalist system itself that’s at the root of this inequality and injustice. As long as this system stays in place, there will still be exploiters and exploited, there will still be the extremely rich and the extremely poor, and the capitalist bulldozer will continue to pillage and destroy everything in its way until life on earth becomes impossible. Fighting austerity is a start, but it’s capitalism we must destroy.”

We expect that the SPVM will be ultra-repressive tonight, once again, from the beginning of the demonstration. It’s obvious that the escalation of repression we’ve seen in the last few years is the result of a political directive to nip all protest movements with a radical discourse in the bud. To be clear, we will not allow ourselves to be chased, beaten, and repressed without a fight.

The struggle has only just begun.

-- CLAC-Montréal

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In solidarity with the students on strike, who have been maligned in the major media outlets over the last few weeks, the CLAC will only grant interviews to independent, alternative, and community media.

Please send requests to info@clac-montreal.net