We publish here a second round of May Day reports, from Pakistan, Indonesia, El Salvador and Nigeria. In all these countries, the on-going capitalist crisis has led to great exploitation and injustice, and workers are engaged in struggles on several fronts for decent wages and living conditions. Many are drawing radical conclusions, and responded very well to our comrades’ message of revolutionary class struggle!

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Pakistan: May Day activities take place amidst new attacks on the working class

May Day in Pakistan was observed this year around the country, amidst new attacks by the ruling class, which is throwing millions into extreme poverty and unemployment. The government of Imran Khan is finalising a deal with IMF in which new taxes worth Rs. 700 billion in one year have been agreed upon, while the prices of essential items including oil, electricity and gas have been raised to unprecedented levels. According to reports, around 1.1 million people have become unemployed in the first nine months of the current government, while 4 million have fallen below the poverty line. In the next eighteen months, four million more are expected to lose their jobs.

The government has already implemented many harsh economic measures against the poor masses to please their masters in the IMF, who were quite angry with Pakistan's close ties with China and the progress of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC, based on Chinese loans with very-high interest rates. The current government also tried to secure bail-outs from 'friendly' countries like China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but failed to do so. In the end, they had to fall at the feet of the IMF, grovelling for loans to sustain the crisis-ridden economy. In the process, the currency has been devalued by around 40 percent against US dollar, interest rates have been hiked by around five percent and taxes on essential commodities like food and oil have been raised enormously. Along with that, the industrialists and the wealthy are being given tax breaks, subsidies and grants from tax money, and have been offered a huge relaxation on corporation taxes. Also, the defence budget has been raised at an unprecedented level and new arms deals worth billions of dollars are being prepared. To compensate for all these handouts, health and education budgets are facing huge cuts, having already been some of the lowest in the world.

All these measures have made the lives of ordinary workers a living hell as wages have not been raised for many years and, factoring in inflation, real wages have decreased hugely. Also, working hours have increased and most workers toil for 12-16 hours a day to make their ends meet. The concept of a weekly holiday is being phased out, and most of the workers are employed on an hourly basis. The government has announced that the minimum wage of an unskilled worker should not be less than $110 per month for an eight-hour work daily. This miserable wage is already shamefully low, but most workers are forced to work $80-90 a month for 12-hour work days. Trade unions in the private sector are scarce, and registering a new union for workers is almost impossible due to the draconian state machinery and the oppression by the bosses.

The new attacks of the government include an aggressive privatisation policy on the order of IMF. Previous governments had already privatised key public sector institutions like banks, power and telecommunications for peanuts, and tens of thousands of workers were sacked in this process. But this new government has announced privatisations of 200 more departments, including hospitals and educational institutes, which will not only put thousands of workers out of a job, but also render the basic facilities of health and education unavailable for a huge majority of the population.

In this situation, May Day was an important event for the working class to organise and vow to fight against these attacks. Red Workers Front used this opportunity to organise meetings and rallies across the country and open a debate around the question of a general strike in the country to counter these attacks by the ruling class.

Already, protests, strikes and agitations are going on in various departments and industries around the country, but there is no platform to organise these struggles into a joint struggle against the ruling class. For this purpose, Red Workers Front, in along with the monthly journal, Worker Nama published a special poster and leaflet for May Day to be pasted and distributed across the country among the workers. A special issue of Worker Nama was also published for May Day that was sold at rallies and public meetings around the country.

All this got an overwhelming response from the workers and they said that the idea of a general strike against all these attacks is the only way forward, as various isolated struggles are not bearing much fruit. Many workers also talked about the struggles in their industries and departments and asked to report them in Worker Nama so their stories of struggle can reach other workers across the country. Many workers also vowed to join Red Workers Front to carry this struggle forward against privatisation and other attacks on the working class.

Islamabad

The capital city was the centre of activity on this May Day as the workers of State Life Insurance and Utility Stores were protesting against privatisation.

State Life Insurance is an important institute of the state, which offers life insurance to the general public. But now the ruling class is hellbent on looting and plundering this rich institute. The new government has announced the privatisation of this department, which means that private owners will be able to loot its liquid assets (which stand at around Rs. 800 billion) and its properties (worth Rs. 300 billion or more.) It is rumoured that Abdul Razaq Dawod, one of the richest men in the country and currently in charge of the commerce ministry wants to lay his hands on this department. The privatisation process has jeopardised the jobs of thousands of employees of this profitable department, while around 200,000 salespeople are also at risk of losing their jobs. A few months ago, when they started to protest against this draconian measure, the registered union of the department was banned and threatened with dire consequences. Since then, a struggle is going on in the department and thousands of its workers are involved in protests and demonstrations across the country. The main protest is going on in Islamabad, to demand the privatisation be halted.

Red Workers Front had discussed with the organisers of the protest to hold a joint meeting on May Day and invite workers from other departments for this meeting as well. Everything was planned and the preparations were finalised, but just one day before the meeting on the evening of 30 April, the sit-in of State Life workers was brutally attacked by the police and security forces, and the workers’ leadership were arrested. They were released later that night on the promise that they would not organise the meeting on May Day. Though the sit-in still continues and RWF extends complete solidarity with the workers of State Life Insurance, the May Day meeting couldn't be organised as planned due to security threats.

The workers of the Utility Stores had also gathered in Islamabad at their head office to protest against privatisation on May Day. These grocery stores are for the general public around the country, organised by the State to provide essential items like flour and cooking oil at subsidised rates. After coming into office, the current government announced its intention to privatise this department, which would mean the end of subsidised food items for the general public and unemployment for 14,000 workers of this department. A sit-in started in Islamabad after this announcement in August last year and continued for many days until the government finally caved took its decision back. But this weakness of the government in doing so was criticised by the IMF and the strategists of capital, including the Financial Times. After this pressure, the government again announced the privatisation of this department and workers again organised a sit-in on May Day. RWF extended complete solidarity with these workers and asked them to unite in a joint struggle with the workers of other departments, like State Life. This time, the government has given some assurances, but the workers are determined to carry out this fight against privatisation until the end. Comrades of RWF also participated in rallies and meetings of other workers on May Day, distributed leaflets and sold copies of Worker Nama.

Lahore

RWF is involved in the struggles of workers of many departments in Lahore and is working to bring all these struggles together on one platform. Efforts to accomplish this have been ongoing for months, and a meeting was organised on 5 March at Lahore press club. In that meeting, various workers’ leaders, from State Life Insurance, the Young Doctors Association, the railways, Telecommunications PTCL, journalism, and Government Engineers were present. Also, workers from the electricity department, school teachers and rickshaw drivers were there. All the workers vowed to carry out a joint struggle against privatisation and attacks on the working class. The leader of the Young Doctors Association, YDA Salman Haseeb Chaudhary, highlighted the policy of privatising hospitals and asked everyone present to support his organisation in their cause. Others who spoke at the meeting were Tahira Randhawa and Qanita Shahida from State Life, Siddiq Baig representing railway workers, Sabir Butt from PTCL, Zulfiqar Ali Mehto from the journalists’ union, Qasim Ali representing government engineers, Faisal Chattha representing young engineers and Aftab Ashraf from Red Workers Front, who also chaired the event.

After that meeting, the YDA organised meetings of these union leaders with the workers and doctors of various hospitals in Lahore, in which they discussed a joint strategy to fight privatisation. RWF played a leading role in this process.

For May Day, a joint meeting of all these workers was planned in Lahore. But just two days before May Day, the government tabled a bill in the assembly for the privatisation of all public hospitals in Punjab. This bill was approved by the cabinet and was clearly set to be passed from the assembly as all the opposition parties also support the policy of privatisation. The YDA was forced to respond with agitation and strikes against this aggressive attack in which RWF extended complete solidarity with them. An important milestone achieved by YDA is that they have also involved all other employees of hospitals in this struggle from janitors to nurses and technicians in the hospital.

RWF has played a key role in this process and has been able to organise a Grand Health Alliance of all the hospitals in Punjab. A joint meeting of the GHA was held soon after May Day in which representatives and executive members of all the unions of nurses, janitors, technicians and other hospital workers were present under the leadership of the YDA. A central body was elected to carry this struggle forward, including a representative of RWF. This central body is now organising meetings in all the hospitals of Punjab and announcing GHA bodies in every hospital. Along with that, public meetings, protests, agitation and strikes are continuing across the province against privatisation. With RWF taking the lead, other layers of workers, including those from State Life, professors and lecturers, telecommunications workers and others are also extending solidarity with this struggle and have offered to join a Grand Alliance against privatisation.

Along with Punjab, the hospitals of Pushtoonkhwa province have also been privatised by the Imran Khan government, and health workers are protesting in that province as well. The leadership of both provinces have also held a joint conference to vow for a joint struggle against these attacks. This privatisation will snatch the basic right of healthcare from millions of people who are already living in extreme poverty. Last month, the prices of medicines were raised up to 300 percent by the government and it was leaked that the minister for health took a huge bribe from pharmaceutical companies to allow this price hike. Similarly, government hospitals are in poor condition and often, three patients are treated simultaneously on one bed. Many patients couldn't get a bed and die on the floor without any treatment due to insufficient funds for these hospitals. Already, 80 percent of the population has no access to these hospitals or proper medication. Now this privatisation will leave the whole country without any health facilities, except for the filthy rich who can afford private health services.

RWF in Lahore was also involved in the struggle of government engineers who were demanding an increase in their salaries. After a struggle of many months, they were victorious and the government agreed to raise their wages.

Comrades of RWF also distributed leaflets and pasted posters at various industrial areas of Lahore, including Kot Lakhpat and Gajju Mata. They interviewed many workers for the reports of Worker Nama and discussed various ways to organise workers in the struggle for better living conditions.

Faisalabad

This city is famous for its textile industry and hundreds of thousands of textile workers here work in various industries. RWF has organised many meetings of textile workers here previously, and this year also they participated in the central meeting of the workers on May Day, held in the main square of the city. Around 8,000 workers had come there to attend the May Day meeting, where RWF workers distributed leaflets and sold Worker Nama to them.

RWF started its rally from Kutchery chowk, led by Abdullah Rehmat, and then proceeded towards the main meeting. The rally included textile workers, as well as workers from Pepsi Cola. The workers of Pepsi Cola here have been waging a struggle against the brutal management for a year, after they were sacked from their jobs unlawfully. After the protest, fake police cases were also registered against them and they are still fighting those cases in court. Multinational companies like Pepsi Cola do not follow any labour laws and proceedings and have draconian working conditions inside their factories. Workers are not paid salaries and are forced to work overtime. If they complain, they are sacked from their jobs without any legal notice or compensation. RWF has extended solidarity with these workers from day one and is trying to win this battle against the brutality of the state and management of Pepsi Cola.

Textile workers here have also been protesting for many years for higher wages and better living conditions, struggles in which RWF has played an important part. A new issue faced by workers is the closure of industry on a huge level, mainly due to onslaught of cheap Chinese goods. RWF has demanded that the government provide jobs for these workers being laid off, or give them unemployment allowance to survive. The slogan for a general strike was also very popular in the meeting on May Day and workers said that it should be organised as soon as possible.

Gujranwala

A meeting was held in Baldia Hall at Kamoki on May Day, in which workers from various departments participated enthusiastically. This is an important industrial area of the country in which oppression and exploitation by the bosses have reached unprecedented levels. Workers are sometimes tortured to death for not obeying the dictates of the bosses, while wages go unpaid for many months.

The meeting was conducted by a college teacher, Nasira Wyne, while those who addressed the meeting included Gulzada Safi leader of the school teachers’ union; Malik Faqeer from State Life; Sheikh Abdul Rasheed from the journalists’ union; Malik Ilyas; Malika and Muhammad Anwar from the school teachers’ union; Awais Qarni and Salma representing private school teachers; and Sibghat Wyne and Adam Pal from Red Workers Front.

The speakers highlighted the importance of May Day and discussed the possibilities of a joint struggle against the attacks of the ruling class.

Multan

A meeting was organised by RWF at the press club to observe May Day. Posters were pasted around the city and leaflets were distributed among workers in the preparation for this meeting. Last year, the meeting was cancelled by the authorities at the last moment, so this year, the atmosphere was quite uncertain. But in the end, the meeting was held quite successfully.

Comrade Rawal Asad conducted the stage, while those who spoke at the occasion were Tariq Khan from Radio Pakistan, Mohsin Baloch from the government Shahbaz Sharif Hospital, Tahir Khakwani from the union of the revenue department (FBR), Mukhtiar Rathor from the clerks’ association (APCA), A.D. Kanwal from the hospital workers’ association, Aleem Arshad from the Professors’ and Lecturers’ Association, Rauf Maan from the journalists’ union, Mujahid Pasha representing the sewage workers, Waqas Sial from the Progressive Youth Alliance and Valeed Khan from RWF.

Speakers highlighted the importance of unity of the working class against the attacks of the ruling class. Many resolutions were also passed in the meeting, condemning the privatisation of public sector institutions, and also to move forward towards a general strike in Pakistan.

Bahawalpur

A meeting was organized by RWF at Gulistan Textile Mills in which workers and students participated enthusiastically. The meeting was chaired by Jalil Mangla of RWF while speakers included leader of the Gulistan textile workers, Rafiq Channar; students from the Islamic University Irfan Mansur, Farhan Rasheed; and Mairaj Hashmi from the Progressive Youth Alliance. Dr. Yasir Irshad from Victoria Hospital summed up the discussion.

RWF has played a leading role in the fight against the bosses of this mill, who ran away with the unpaid wages of many months of more than one thousand workers. After a long battle, RWF was successful in getting these wages paid to the workers, for which they were grateful. On this May Day, workers vowed to continue their struggle against this exploitative system. A meeting on May Day was also held in the neighboyring city of Lodhran, in which farmers participated in big numbers.

D.G.Khan

A meeting was organized by RWF here on May Day, in which workers from various departments participated with enthusiasm. Fazeel Asghar presided over the meeting, while Asif Lashari presented an introduction of Red Workers Front to the audience. Others who spoke at the meeting were Dr. Nauman, leader of Young Doctors’ Association; Humayun Khan from the Farmers’ Unity and Shabbir Buzdar from the Progressive Youth Alliance. Speakers highlighted the problems faced by them in their departments and said that the only way forward is to struggle for their rights and fight the draconian attacks by the government.

Peshawar

RWF participated in a rally organised by railway workers and distributed leaflets among them, in addition to speaking at the occasion. The rally started at the railway station and ended at the press club. Saddam Wazir from RWF addressed the rally and appealed for a joint strategy against the attacks of the ruling class.

Malakand

A meeting was organized by RWF, in which students and workers participated to commemorate May Day. Basit Aziz conducted the stage, while Siddiq Jan introduced the discussion, highlighting the crisis of capitalism around the world. Shahab from Chakdara also spoke against the injustices of the ruling class. Others who spoke at the meeting were Sana ullah, Tahir ullah, Asad, Nangial, Chragh Hussain and Aziz ullah. A worker who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia also spoke about the brutal working conditions there. Adnan Khan concluded the discussion on May Day, while Rashid Khalid summed up the meeting.

Karachi

RWF participated in various rallies and public meetings on May Day and raised the slogan "towards a general strike". On 30 April, a rally was organised by workers of PC Hotel from the press club to the Shaheen complex to raise their demands.

On May Day, railway workers organised a rally and a meeting at Cantt station. Many rallies of workers also came to the press club to highlight their demands.

A sit-in of nurses was continuing outside the press club and became the centre of May Day activities. Later, police cracked down on this sit-in, attacked the nurses and arrested the leadership. The workers raised slogans against this injustice and condemned the leadership of the PPP, which has ruled this province continuously for 11 years now. Cormade Anam from RWF also addressed the nurses at this occasion and extended complete solidarity with them.

Kotri

A meeting was organized by RWF at the press club in this important industrial area of the country, near Hyderabad. A rally was held from Allah wala chowk to the press club. Sarmad Sindhi welcomed the participants of the meeting. Those who addressed the meeting were Paras Jan from RWF, Ali Panhwar, Raja and student leaders of the Watan Dost Students’ Federation, Sarmad Siyal, Kashif Abbasi, Farhan and Musadiq Siyal.

Workers highlighted the problems they face in this industrial area and also announced their intention to join Red Workers Front to struggle for their rights. The meeting ended with the singing of revolutionary songs.

Dadu

RWF participated in a joint rally of workers in which a large number of workers from various departments participated in huge numbers. Workers from the electricity department, highways, hospitals, school teachers, rickshaw and others were present in the rally. RWF was present with its leaflets and banners, and sold Worker Nama to the participants of the rally. The slogan of a general strike got a huge response from the participants.

Quetta

RWF participated in the rallies and meetings organised by various labour organizations on May Day. The central rally started at the railway station in which delegations of many labour organisation participated. This rally toured the whole city and ended in the grounds of Liaqat Park, where a public meeting was held. Another meeting was held on the lawn of the Municipal Corporation Quetta in which many labour organisation also participated.

An important meeting was held in the labour hall of the railway station. Comrade Karim Parhar of RWF addressed the meeting, along with other trade union leaders, and opened the discussion of a general strike in the country. This discussion got an overwhelming response by the participants and they appreciated RWF’s leaflets and posters. Karim also criticised the role of corrupt trade union leaders and said that the rank-and-file workers will have to wage a struggle against these corrupt leaders as well. This got huge applause from the audience.

Quetta is one of the most active cities of the country in terms of protests and demonstrations by the working class. Coal miners have held huge protests against the callousness of the state authorities and brutality of the bosses, which has led to the deaths of hundreds of coal miners, which are still continuing. Also, workers from the health sector, education, public works, Baluchistan Development Authority, clerks’ association, pharmacists, veterinary doctors, teachers and many other departments continuously hold protests against wage cuts, regularisation, for increased salaries and other issues, in which RWF extend complete solidarity with them.

Kashmir

RWF participated in the joint meeting of all trade unions in Rawlakot. RWF arrived at the meeting in the form of a rally, raising slogans of the unity of the working class. Those who addressed the rally were Azhar Riaz and Jazib Saleem. The rally was welcomed by the participants of the joint meeting and they appreciated the slogan "towards a general strike", saying that this is the only way forward.

Rawlakot has become the centre of many important workers’ struggles in recent months, in which workers of the public works department, electricity department and healthcare have carried out long strikes and protests against the attacks of the ruling class. Many trade union leaders were also arrested and later released during these struggles. The May Day meeting was important in this regard to discuss a joint strategy to fight against these attacks and many trade union leaders expressed their opinions about it. Comrade Yasir Irshad from RWF also addressed the meeting and said that a general strike in Kashmir is the only way forward to fight these attacks. The last speaker of the meeting was Iftikhar Shaheen, president of the public works union. He endorsed the slogan of a general strike and, which he said came at the right time, and that leaders of all unions should come together if they want to win these battles playing out in various departments.

The RWF stall was busy throughout the day and a large number of papers and books were sold.

RWF also participated in the rallies and meetings in other cities of Kashmir, including Bagh and Palandri.

El Salvador

The comrades’ intervention at May Day was, in the main, a great success. This is despite the fact that El Salvador is passing through a period of deep atomisation and confusion. The leaders of the left, who betrayed on coming to power, have created an atmosphere of scepticism between the progressive youth and other layers of the working class.

We have gone from having three strong marches in the capital on 1 May (with the main one consisting of 80,000 workers) to having eight smaller marches dispersed across the city, which expresses the weakness of the traditional union bureaucracy.

However, this atomisation cannot be interpreted mechanically as a symptom of general demoralisation, because the masses are willing to struggle to change their conditions. The problem is the leadership of the labour movement is discredited, and does not offer an alternative that can channel all the discontent that is ready to explode from beneath the surface.

Despite a lack of organisation, it was clear that the bureaucracies of the unions and the FMLN still have some level of authority over the left, because their official march far exceeded the other ‘independent’ marches held by small sects. Despite the difficult conditions, the comrades’ materials were very well received, with 975 newspapers sold on the day. We surpassed our record for attendance, with 30 comrades taking part.

Nigeria

Nigerian workers joined their brothers and sisters all over the world to mark May Day. The theme for this year’s celebration was: “another 100 years of struggle for jobs, dignity and social justice in Nigeria.” A major demand by workers throughout the country at the May Day event was for the government at all levels to immediately begin the full implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage, recently signed into law by president Buhari. It will be recalled that N30,000 was a compromise, reached by the labour leaders with the government, despite the enormous capacity on the part of workers to have won the N66,500 initially put forward by the labour leadership.

This fact was even confirmed by Vice-President Yemi Oshibajo at the May Day event in Abuja, the federal capital territory, where he commended the leadership of the labour movement for showing utmost understanding during negotiations of the new minimum wage. This further confirmed the fact that the current labour leadership are actually toadies of the capitalist class.

In an urgent bid to redeem their waning influence and authority, responding to enormous pressure from below, the labour leadership across the country made militant speeches and promises to ensure immediate implementation of the new minimum wage. In Abuja, the General Secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Peter Ozo-Eson, said the organised labour movement will formally ask all employers to begin the payment of the new wage from this month.

In Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, where we actively participated in the May Day event that took place at Adamasingba stadium, the main question workers were asking was about the implementation of the 30,000 minimum wage. The newly elected Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) in the state, Bayo Titi-Sodo, in his speech, called on all employers to commence the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage on 18 April, the day the new wage was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari. He said that the employers should pronounce 18 April as the effective date of the new wage and that arrears be paid to workers in the state.

In Lagos state, the commercial centre of Nigeria, the May Day event took place at two different centres as a result of the fallout from the split of the NLC after its 2016 convention. It has since split into the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the United Labour Congress (ULC). We intervened both at the NLC/TUC Rally at Agege Township Stadium, as well as ULC Rally at Surulere. The Agege March took a qualitative turn when Lagos State Polytechnic and Lagos State University (LASPOTECH/LASU) staff, who are being unjustly victimised by the school management in collaboration with the Lagos State Government, forced their way into the main bowl and marched with placards to the podium, where the representatives of the government were seated. They were supported in this action by Joint Action Front (JAF: a coalition of left organisations in Nigeria).

This compelled the class-collaborationist leaders of NLC and TUC to quickly concede to the request of the protesting workers to address the gathering. Comrade Achike, the JAF Vice-Chair, addressed the whole stadium for about 15 minutes, urging the workers to show solidarity to LASU/LASPOTECH cause, so as to save education in Lagos from total collapse. The NLC/TUC leaders were embarrassed, and the protesting workers were very jubilant, promising to intensify the struggle.

In a similar development to that of Lagos state; Abia State pensioners, who are owed 28 months of pension arrears, staged a public protest during the May Day celebration, to press home their demand for payment of pensions and gratuities to retired workers in the state. The pensioners – old men and women – disrupted the smooth flow of the event when the Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu was about to take the salute. Dressed in black attire, they stormed the podium, sitting on the floor and insisting that their pensions be paid. They carried placards with inscriptions like: ‘Pay pension, and Gratuity’, ‘Pension payment is now a taboo in Abia state’. In his address at the event, the chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Chukwuma Udensi, noted that pensioners served the state and should not be deserted and denied their pension.

In Kaduna state, the NLC chairman, while addressing workers at the May Day event, tasked both the Federal and State government to resuscitate moribund textile industries in Northern Nigeria. He also urged the Governor of the state, Nasir el-Rufai to reabsorb government workers who were unjustly sacked, in order to reduce unemployment and high rate of insecurity in the state. It will be recalled that the present administration in the state disengaged a large number of civil servants from the services of the state. Instead of demanding unconditional reinstatement of all affected workers, the chairman, in his words stated:

“[W]e wish to appeal to Governor Nasir el-Rufai to revisit their cases with the view of reinstating those that can still be productive. We appeal for the payment of benefits to those that cannot be reabsorbed without further delay. This appeal became very necessary as those affected are passing through severe untold hardships that have led to serious economic and social consequences with unreversed complications, including death”.

A total of 270 copies of the comrades’ paper were sold in three centres where we intervened. They made contact with the Nigerian Union of Teachers branch in a remote town of Oyo State. The leadership of this union promised to provide them with articles of events in their union, to be carried in their future paper.

The current situation in the country is a striking confirmation of the fact that, even given another 1000 years, as long as capitalism exists, the struggle for jobs and dignity will not be complete. Capitalism offers nothing but mass sackings, and decaying infrastructure. These are part and parcel of capitalism, especially in a backward country like Nigeria. The only viable alternative to ending mass exploitation, oppression and starvation wages in Nigeria lies in wresting power from the useless capitalist class that has held Nigeria down for decades and by replacing it with a workers’ government with a socialist programme.

It is either socialism or barbarism, and barbarism is already with us: forward to socialism!