It’s as timely as ever for the workers of the world to unite. The cooperation between the far-right and center right is intensifying. While claiming to represent the common people, they push an agenda that dismantles workers’ rights, weakens unions, and deepens inequality.

Donald Trump’s trade war against the European Union puts more than 100 000 jobs in immediate jeopardy. Techno-oligarchs like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are trying to take away the workers’ right for collective bargaining and industrial action – some of the richest men in the world are trying to dictate the working conditions of the workers. Multinational companies are relocating viable production sites outside of Europe and laying off workers to secure ever increasing dividends for wealthy shareholders.

Instead of taking measures to protect European jobs and strategic industries, the European Commission and center to far-right governments are racing to the bottom with Donald Trump and his allies across the world. The multiplication of free trade agreements, the asphyxiating austerity, and the massive social and environmental deregulation are crippling quality employment in Europe. It is furthermore depriving the European Union of crucial production capacities for the green transition, healthcare or security.

These politics serve the profits of the few at the expense of the many, undermining the foundation of democratic and social progress in Europe and beyond. Wealth inequality is stark across the globe, and Europe is no different: according to data from 2022, the richest 10% hold an overwhelming 67% of the continent’s wealth, while the poorest 50% of adults own a mere 1.2%.

The wealthiest do not pay their fair share of taxes either. The European Commission has estimated that large corporations pay up to 30% less in taxes on their income compared to small businesses, largely because they are able to engage in tax planning.

As immediate remedies we need a wealth tax for billionaires and a common minimum tax rate on capital income. At the same time workers’ opportunities to have a say in corporate governance and to own shares in the companies they work for should be expanded. Finally, to ensure social and ecological sustainability, we need to increase democratic control of the whole economic system.      

Today, millions of workers are facing rising living costs, stagnant wages, unsafe working conditions, and job insecurity—especially marginalized and vulnerable social groups. Public services are under attack, while billionaires grow richer and corporate power tightens its grip. Climate breakdown, war, and austerity deepen the hardships of the working class, while social safety nets are deliberately eroded.

However, workers in Europe and beyond are resisting, and mobilising for a better future. With the steady revival of industrial action in Central-Eastern Europe, massive strikes in Belgium, Greece, or Argentina, and increasing mobilisation both in the European Union and the United States, workers are standing up for their rights and the European Left Alliance stands with them in solidarity.

Our Alternative: A Just Economy for People and Planet

The European Left Alliance, uniting forces from seven EU countries, fights for a new political direction—one based on equality, dignity, and solidarity. On this May Day, we reaffirm our commitment to:

• Empowering trade unions and strengthening collective bargaining rights
• Ensuring living wages, safe workplaces, and decent working conditions for all, and take initiatives to improve wages and working conditions overall
• Preventing layoffs, in particular in strategic sectors, and creating new quality jobs, including those needed for the environmental and social transition
• Reversing austerity and rebuilding strong public services
• Advancing the rights of women, migrants, and marginalized workers
• Taxing the rich and multinational corporations to fund welfare and redistribution
• Building a democratic economy that serves the many, not the few

May Day is more than a commemoration—it is a call to action. The struggle for workers’ rights and dignity is more pressing than it has been in a long time.

The European Left Alliance stands with workers across Europe and the world, every day, in the fight for social justice, equality, and peace.