There are a thousand reasons to get loud for a solidary shutdown and a strategy shift towards the goal of bringing the number of Corona cases near zero on May 1st. Whether you’re a care-giver in an overcrowded ICU, a cleaner, a call center agent, wether you work in a car factory, as an educator or in catering—for all of us solidarity means fighting the pandemic together. On May 1st, tell the world why you need a solidary shutdown—using the hashtags #MaydayMayday and #ZeroCovid in social media. And if you can, take your protest to the streets, too! See below for a list of actions our local groups take part in.
Where there are factories, Covid case numbers are high, a new study shows. Bosses from manufacturing to public service refuse to let symptomatic people go home, claiming it’s “just a cold”. Safeguard measures aren’t implemented. Especially migrants and refugees can be found in essential jobs with increased risk of catching Covid—from cleaning to eldercare, from post delivery to the food industry. Often times, management refuses to appoint patients at risk to safer job sites for protection. Many disabled people have lost their employment or had their work-hours reduced without compensation payment.
Many reports have reached us documenting these conditions:
I work in a health care institution with a couple of infected patients. I have an illness that makes me part of the high-risk group, but I still have to work in the quarantine station. Who cares for the health of the caregivers? Who’s gonna help us, when we’re burnt out?
I work in a kindergarden while also caring for my sick partner at home. I’m very scared to bring Corona home from work. Even when the 7-day incidence was pretty high, the so-called emergency child care was consistently almost as full as in regular times.
I work as a food deliverer for a big supermarket chain. The company requires us to deliver the groceries right into the common rooms and common kitchens. Often times, a bunch of employees is already sitting there, in far too small rooms that aren’t even ventilated. Over 90% of our customers aren’t wearing masks.
On Labour Day, let’s make it plain and clear: We won’t continue to just function unconditionally any longer! Solidarity means fighting the pandemic. A fight that doesn’t prioritise to put end and to the pandemic is not workable. The higher the numbers of Covid cases, the lower the protection the safeguards measures can give us. The longer we’re stuck in a yoyo-lockdown, the more uncertain our income becomes. And even a raise in payment doesn’t help us much when our lungs get damaged, when we have to deal with Long Covid for months—or when we are even dead. Let’s fight for a solidary shutdown! Vaccines and tests alone won’t save us! Let’s suppress the virus with a scientifically grounded strategy and save lives! An end to the pandemic is possible!
We might not have social media channels with hundreds of thousands of followers like some actors—but if YOU join, we can be thousands! Let’s win the attention of the public on May 1st: Show the world why you need a solidary shutdown, using the hashtags #MaydayMayday and #ZeroCovid on all social media channels on Labour Day!
Your post could look like this, for example:
#MaydayMayday I’m a hairdresser. Customers that get comfortable with a magazine in their hand and the mask dangling from their ear aren’t the exception. We are told that as service providers, we can’t “be like that”. Solidary shutdown now! #ZeroCovid
#MaydayMayday I work in the foundry of a Volkswagen factory. In my shift there have been over 70 Covid cases over the last weeks. Colleagues are feeling unwell and ask for tests—our boss just goes: ”Oh come on, it’s just a cold!” Solidary shutdown now! #ZeroCovid
Get creative—use pictures, videos, share your emergency call! If you want us to share your statement anonymously, you can also send it to us instead of posting it yourself.
And if this is an option for you: Take your protest to the streets! In Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Vienna, we have #MaydayMay protests planned, partly in cooperation with the trade unions. Also: Right on time for Labour Day, the second issue of our newspaper is out and can be distributed!
LIST OF ACTIONS WITH PARTICIPATION OF ZEROCOVID:
| Berlin | 11 AM, Hackescher Markt: „Gewerkschaften in die Offensive“ 5 PM, Hermannplatz: „Revolutionärer 1. Mai – Enteignungsblock“ |
| Düsseldorf | 10:30 AM, DGB-Haus, Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 34–38: Demonstration to the Rheinufer |
| Frankfurt am Main | 10:30 AM, DGB demonstration. Location: tba |
| München | 11 AM, Königsplatz: DGB manifestation. Demonstration: tba Wall newspapers concerning zu Covid at work |
| Wien | 12 PM, Ottakring: Demonstration „MAYDAY – Wien“ |
Also ask your local ZeroCovid group for their plans for May 1! Groups from the NoCovid campaign are also calling to actions under the hashtag #MaydayMayday and with an emphasis on protection at work!