International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations
April 24, 2026
ICOR Statement
Take to the streets on May Day against the ruthless
exploitation of people and nature – for the future of the
working class under socialism
On May 1, 1886, armed thugs acting on behalf of industrialists brutally attacked striking
workers who had gathered at Haymarket in Chicago, USA. The workers demanded an
eight-hour workday and, despite this brutal repression, ultimately achieved it.
In 1889, the Second International called on workers to celebrate May 1 each year as a day
of worldwide solidarity among the working class. Friedrich Engels explained that on this
day, the working class must also vow to “seize political power in order to expropriate
capital and transform the means of production into public property.” This is a burning issue
today. Only under the leadership of the international working class can a broad united front
against fascism and war put a stop to the imperialists and give the struggle the perspective
of socialism and communism.
The entire burden of the growing, insoluble crisis inherent in the imperialist world system is
being shifted onto the working class and other sections of the working masses. Attacks in
the form of layoffs and workforce reductions, closures of businesses and factories, as well
as wage cuts and restrictions on workplace safety have become a common feature of all
imperialist-capitalist countries. Instead of permanent employment, today we see the
promotion of outsourcing, temporary agency work, fixed-term contracts at starvation
wages with no job security, deteriorating working conditions, the extension of working
hours to over 12 and even 14 hours a day, and the introduction of gig workers paid per
assignment on major internet platforms. In addition, hard-won political, economic, and
social rights are being systematically curtailed. Under capitalism, the introduction of new
technologies is destroying jobs at a rapid pace.
Competition among imperialist countries for control of markets has intensified, leading not
only to an intense trade war among them but also to military incursions into markets and
imperialist wars of aggression to secure dominance over entire regions and resources
such as oil, natural gas, minerals, and precious metals in various countries. “Make
America Great Again!” signifies US imperialism’s openly imperialist, colonialist claim to
world domination. They ruthlessly sacrifice the foundations of human life to their greed for
profit and drive forward the global environmental catastrophe. The danger of a nuclear-led
Third World War is intensifying. In current wars worldwide, U.S. imperialism is the main
aggressor, perpetrating genocide and ecocide. We oppose all imperialists equally.
At this critical turning point, May Day takes on even greater significance. Historically
speaking, the working class is destined to play the leading role in the revolution to abolish
the exploitation of man by man once and for all. To this end, the worldwide unity of the
working class – proletarian internationalism – must be steadfastly upheld and
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strengthened today. Modern revisionism and reformism, postmodernism, chauvinism, and
anti-communism stand in opposition to this.
The crisis that has gripped the imperialist-capitalist world is not merely economic in nature,
but all-encompassing, extending to the political, social, ideological, ethical, and cultural
spheres. Karl Marx already stated that workers must transform themselves in order to
transform the world.
As a means in the intensifying struggle for dominance and to maintain their power, the
imperialist-capitalist rulers resort to fascism. In fact, the tendency toward fascism has now
become a common feature in all imperialist-capitalist countries.
On May Day, Lenin stated: “The workers of all lands are fighting … for a system of society
where the wealth created by the common labour will go to benefit, not a handful of rich
men, but all those who work. They want … the fruits of labour to go to the labourers
themselves, and all the achievements of the human mind, all improvements in ways of
working, to improve the lot of the man who works, and not serve as a means of oppressing
him …” (Lenin, “May Day”, 1904, Collected Works, Volume 7, pages 199-202)
Today, the working class and the oppressed masses worldwide are often engaged in fierce
struggles, including large-scale general strikes such as the one in India in February 2026.
The political strike by dockworkers in at least six countries in solidarity with Palestine –
against arms shipments to Zionist Israel, which is committing genocide against the
Palestinian people, in solidarity with Palestine, and in defense of their social and economic
rights—points to the prospect of internationally coordinated struggles. The 3,300
demonstrations involving over eight million people in the U.S. on March 28, 2026, many
under the slogan “No kings—no fascism,” signal: Fascists are not all-powerful! Everbroader masses do not want to end up in fascist barbarism.
The rapid succession of political developments – U.S. imperialist warmongering and
military aggression, which have led to an unprecedentedly brutal kidnapping operation
against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the intensification of the blockade of Cuba,
and the imperialist-Zionist war of aggression against Iran and Lebanon – attacks against
the women’s movement, plundering of nature, the abolition of social, economic, and
democratic gains, and many other related developments – all of these require the strong
commitment of the working class in alliance with the oppressed masses of the world.
These struggles need strong Marxist-Leninist leadership. In this spirit, ICOR calls on May
Day:
Organize yourselves! Strengthen the class-struggle wing within the trade unions
and the transnational international coordination of the labor movement!
Build the proletarian united front against fascism and war as the core of the
international anti-imperialist united front!
Strengthen the Marxist-Leninist parties, the ICOR, and its member organizations!
Signatories to date; additional signatories welcome:
1. MMLPL Moroccan Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Line
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2. CPSA (ML) Communist Party of South Africa (Marxist-Leninist)
3. NCP (Mashal) Nepal Communist Party (Mashal)
4. RUFN Revolutionary United Front of Nepal
5. NDMLP New-Democratic Marxist-Leninist Party, Sri Lanka
6. CPA/ML Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
7. БКП Българска Комунистическа Партия (Bulgarian Communist Party)
8. PR-ByH Partija Rada – ByH (Party of Labor – Bosnia and Herzegovina)
9. MLPD Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (Marxist-Leninist Party of
Germany)
10.UPML Union Prolétarienne Marxiste-Léniniste (Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Union),
France
11. BP (NK-T) Bolşevik Parti (Kuzey Kürdistan-Türkiye) (Bolshevik Party (North
Kurdistan-Turkey))
12.KOL Kommunistische Organisation Luxemburg (Communist Organization of
Luxemburg)
13.RM Rode Morgen (Red Dawn), Netherlands
14.UMLP União Marxista-Leninista Portuguesa (Portuguese Marxist-Leninist Union)
15.MLGS Marxistisch-Leninistische Gruppe Schweiz (Marxist-Leninist Group of
Switzerland)
16.MLKP Marksist Leninist Komünist Parti Türkiye / Kürdistan (Marxist Leninist
Communist Party Turkey / Kurdistan)
17.PCP (independiente) Partido Comunista Paraguayo (independiente) (Paraguayan
Communist Party (independent))
18.PC (ML) Partido Comunista (Marxista Leninista) (Communist Party (MarxistLeninist)), Dominican Republic
19.PCR-U Partido Comunista Revolucionario del Uruguay (Revolutionary Communist
Party of Uruguay)
20.SUCI (C) Socialist Unity Center of India (Communist)
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