Happy May Day from our Philly Metro Branch of WSA (Workers Solidarity Alliance, Anarcho-Syndicalist ). It’s been a long and hard pandemic, and our thoughts continue to be with you and yours experiencing the impact of this virus on all of our personal and work lives. While we know that medical workers, as well as retail and other service workers, were hardest hit by this pandemic, we also want to especially recognize all of the Black Lives Matter organizers and activists, initiating another historic chapter of the civil rights movement. The Black community was, and still is, dealing with three pandemics: being hit more than most communities by the virus, ongoing police violence, and the violent structures of racism. It is imperative we recognize the layers of danger heaped on our Black comrades and actively educate ourselves and offer support. As the local economy begins to open up and as new labor struggles take shape, we want to renew our activist relationships and begin new ones, as we anticipate working together again. We especially want to support all the Amazon workers who are trying to unionize. During a pandemic where going out into any public space was a danger, Amazon workers strained to meet the growing reliance on online shopping, exacerbating already infamous poor working conditions. While workers in Alabama lost this round of the fight to unionize, we hope to be involved in future union efforts. These workers were part of the lifeblood of the world when everything halted. We cannot allow their exploitation to continue unchecked. Recently much of our Branch’s energy has gone into WSA national work, but looking ahead to the next year we are hoping to move forward on our local projects, and to support community based organizing, the heart of so much positive, lasting, change. This May Day, we honor workers everywhere: Workers are not disposable!
Philly Metro Area WSA 