May Day 2000 We Walked Together

Billy Mitchell

It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning with just enough of a breeze to float the banners and the flags. The rattle of side drums and the lilt of the bagpipes could be heard above the chatter of the gathering crowds as bands-persons warmed up their instruments for the parade. The gathering point was a blaze of colour with unfurled banners and gaily dressed visitors from overseas with their bright colours mingling with the locals, some of whom came dressed in exotic costumes.

The peelers walked about in shirt-sleeve order, without the customary parade equipment of flack jacket and riot shield, and appeared unconcerned that known loyalists and nationalists were mingling in the crowd. I
saw a few journalists there, but they were helping to unfurl a banner and didn't seem in the slightest interested in taking notes for a story. There wasn't a TV crew in sight and the Parades Commission hadn't been asked to make a "determination". There wasn't a scowling face to be seen, an obscene remark to be heard or a Molotov cocktail to be thrown - and nobody seemed to be taking offence at anything. This was clearly not a run-of-the-mill parade in downtown Belfast.

It was in fact last Saturday's May Day Celebrations organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. The one parade in Belfast where Protestants and Catholics, people of Other faiths and people of no faith could come together in common purpose to celebrate the one thing that unites us - our status as workers, whether employed or unemployed. The section of the parade in which I walked included people from a variety of community, political, religious and ethnic backgrounds. As human beings and as trade unionists we all walked together behind the same band and under the same banner.

Where were the national and international TV crews? No doubt they were out looking for something more controversial and more divisive to report on. Peaceful parades which show what can be done to bring people from diverse religious, political and community backgrounds together just isn't newsworthy. Obviously "good news" for the citizen is regarded as "bad news" for the media.

May Day, traditionally, was a day of hope for people who lived from season to season. It had its origins in pagan Europe where ancient Celts and Saxons celebrated the end of winter and the return of the sun and the fertility of the soil. Notwithstanding attempts by both the Catholic Church and the Protestant Puritans to stamp it out, Mayday celebrations continued well into the 18th century. Indeed some elements of the ancient celebrations were carried into the last century. I remember well, as a child, the May Day socials and dances when local girls competed to be crowned "Queen of the May".

As social and economic structures changed - hunting to agrarian to industrial - so did the focus of the May Day celebrations. The early craft guilds evolved into trade societies and finally into the trade union movement. It was natural that May Day should be designated by the international labour movement as the annual date for workers to celebrate their achievements and to reflect upon their losses - to take the hopes, aspirations and achievements of previous generations and pass them on to our children as a source of inspiration for the future. It was also a day to remember the martyrs who gave their lives for the cause of workers' rights.

Inez McCormick, President of the ICTU, reminded us on Saturday that May Day 2000 was a day of celebration. As we move into the 21st century it must be said that trade unionists have much to celebrate. Notwithstanding the plethora of anti-trade union laws enacted under the Tories, and quietly accepted by New Labour, working conditions and wages have greatly improved due to union intervention and the sacrifices made by those who manned picket lines and negotiated contracts that improved the lives of working people throughout these islands.

However, the modern trade union movement does not limit itself to shop floor bargaining and cutting deals with management. The work and role of the labour and trade union movement is far greater than the "workers versus bosses" conflict of earlier days. The work now includes campaigning for social change, fighting for adequate and appropriate public services and seeking to develop new and innovative structures for securing the full social and economic emancipation of all of our citizens. In Northern Ireland this must also include ongoing moral and practical support for a genuine peace process that will help to break the cycle of alienation, conflict and violence; and that will help to eliminate sectarianism, sexism and racism in the workplace.

On Saturday 6th May, Protestant, Catholic and Others walked together in a show of solidarity. Let May Day 2000 set an example for the new millennium when, given a new spirit of openness and respect, we can continue to work together for the common good of all. Much has been achieved - much has yet to be achieved.

(First published in the "North Belfast News, May 2000").