May Day ‘on mute’ for the second year
There were few workers on the streets for May Day this year: most were confined to their homes with their factories closed down, with some on the verge of losing their jobs and tens of thousands of other formal and informal employment positions affected.
Absent were the usual loud rallies, meetings and commemorative events.
It was the second consecutive year events were called off: last year’s programmes were affected in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks.
Several leftwing parties and unions held May Day celebrations symbolically, without public participation.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a message marking the day said he hoped the aspirations of International Workers’ Day “may further enhance courage for the collective efforts of rebuilding the Sri Lankan nation and the economy of the country”.
“With a salute to the working class, I take this opportunity to pay my respects to those who are making boundless sacrifices in the face of challenges to the nation caused by the COVID- 19 outbreak,” the President said.
“International Workers’ Day is an opportunity to showcase the unity, strength and revolutionary spirit of working people to the world.”
The President noted that last year the working class had to forego May Day celebrations because of the Easter Sunday carnage and that this year’s decision not to hold celebrations was in accordance with guidelines prescribed by the health authorities.
The United National Party ( UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe issued a message stating: “We celebrate this May Day at a time the whole world has been subjected to social distancing. We have to pay concern on the corona pandemic from two perspectives: to collectively confront this challenge in a global sense and at national level.
“Amidst all these chaos, we should protect the working class.”
The UNP leader said the government should protect all enterprises at this hazardous economic time when “people involved with self employment, agriculture, industries and other sectors are deprived of their livelihood”.
He called on the government to prepare a plan to revive the economy amidst global and local challenges.
The JVP used the theme, “Building a public force for a people-friendly governance” for its May Day celebration at the JVP Headquarters in Pelawatte, Battaramulla under the patronage of the JVP leaders and unions.
“The JVP expresses its comradely solidarity with all those who struggle against the pandemic throughout the world, those who suffer due to the disease and all those people throughout the world who commemorate the International Workers’ Day despite the limitations the calamity has created,” the party said.
Some JVP leaders posted statements on social media. In one Anura Kumara, said that “for the last 72 years, the people of Sri Lanka have been drowned in social, economic, political and cultural crisis”.
The Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) commemorated May Day with its leader, Arumugan Thondaman, hoisting the CWC flag at a temple amid a series of Hindu religious performances.
The Progressive Socialist Party celebrated May Day with a “live rally” on Facebook.
Party official Sirithunga Jayasooriya said the social distancing caused by the COVID-19 epidemic had prevented working people from coming together. “Therefore, class leaders and activists have the opportunity to reflect on May Day and look for new ways to carry on its legacy to the next generation,” he said.
The Lanka Samasamaja Party held a May Day event at Kotte with the theme, “Securing the working force under any circumstance and uplifting their economic status”.