May Day has been a working-class holiday since 1886, when 6 unarmed workers, striking for the 8 hour day, were shot dead by police in Haymarket Square, Chicago. Ever since then May Day has been a holiday, both welcoming Spring and the changes it brings as well as the need for change for people whose right to a decent life, to justice and equality, has never been truly recognised, in any place or time.

Our message on this first May Day of the new millennium is a simple one. We have seen our country prosper with wealth blatantly all around us. But all we see in our own lives, in our communities, is the same poverty and deprivation we have always seen. We also see changes in the Welfare System and the jobs market that certainly benefits employers but we have yet to see how making welfare more difficult to access, or low-waged work, will put an end to the poverty we experience and survive on a daily basis.

Our message today is clear. Welfare Rights are Human Rights! Despite the bad press Welfare has been given, without Welfare, society can only be a jungle where predators prosper and the vulnerable exist only to be exploited. Without Welfare you cannot have a caring society nor a society where the idea of co-operation and solidarity have any meaning. We are quickly becoming aware there are many in this country, for instance certain employers, many of whom would not live on the wages they pay their workers, or the landlords, most of whom would not live in the rooms they rent at the price they rent them, as well as their friends in government, that have other ideas.

But we know this in our own communities. Now it is time that voices other than those of the affluent be heard when decisions are made about the type of society we want to see our children inherit. A good Welfare System is a system that guarantees every citizen his or her basic rights. These rights should guarantee a basic income, a place to live, and the other fundamental resources to live life to the full.

Finally we should know by now, that we will not be given our rights as an act of generosity by those that make decisions that favour the rich at the expense of the poor. Just as workers lost their lives to secure the 8 hour day by fighting for their rights we, in Mountwood, have one simple message today: If we do not stand together and demand our basic rights and our children's right to a decent life, and if these demands are not listened to we will never see the type of society we all deserve. "Welfare Rights" is just a word but it stands for our Right to a Society based on the equality, justice and solidarity of all.

Welfare Rights are our rights! Stop cutting back on the Welfare State!

Contact: George Harding, Diane Mc Namara