Workers’ struggle for a socialist alternative
May 2026 marks a century since the 1926 general strike, one of the most important and explosive events in the history of the working class in Britain.
Our paper keeps this militant history alive, drawing out its lessons, and supporting workers who take to the picket lines and strike back today.
May Day is an annual celebration of workers’ struggle against capitalism. And workers have been doing just that in the fantastic strike waves of the last few years, with millions of workers taking strike action and fighting back.
May Day’s origins lie in the general strike for an eight-hour working day, put down by police gunfire in Chicago in 1886, and in the foundation of the Second International, bringing together revolutionary socialists around the world in 1889. Its history shows us the power of the working class to transform society, and the need to overturn the capitalist state.
The Socialist Party’s links with the organised working class – the agent of socialist change – are fundamental to our work. Each year, we ask groups of workers and trade unionists to support the Socialist newspaper and its ideas by financing a May Day greeting. There has been a fantastic response to our campaign. We have once again received pledges totalling over £10,000, represented by 104 greetings across 12 pages.
Scott Jones, May Day greetings organiser
