2023-05-01 16:27:24
May 1st, Labor Day, is actually a nice tradition. He stands for the rights of working people – and for the duties of employers. But it has always been a platform for political interests. Around May 1, 1886, violent protests and strikes broke out in Chicago in the struggle for an eight-hour workday, resulting in deaths and injuries. Eight strike organizers were executed. In Germany, the “Day of National Labor” was used by the National Socialists from 1933 as a propaganda tool to collect the workers’ movements and disempower the trade unions.
In comparison, the political messages that will be spread in Switzerland on May 1, 2023 are reminiscent of a child’s birthday party. And yet it is shocking how radically certain circles are proceeding and abusing the holiday for their own interests. Anyone who was out and about in Zurich city center in the late afternoon, for example, had to be careful where they put their foot. In the air was not only the message of class struggle and workers’ honor – but also a mixture of tear gas and gun smoke.
Left-wing autonomists (or left-wing radicals) had already mixed up in the official parade in the morning and, out of the anonymity of the masses, sprayed the Läderach confectionery and threw bags of paint at the UBS headquarters on Bahnhofstrasse. Alfred Escher has to believe it in front of the main train station. His monument is covered with red paint.
The official ceremony takes place on the Sechseläuten-Platz – with the speech by SP National Councilor Tamara Funiciello as the main agenda item. What she says is not surprising. Funiciello speaks of the feminist struggle in Switzerland, calls for fair wages for women and advocates women’s right to self-determination over their bodies. And she calls for a strike at the interface between pathos and hysteria: “We came to stay. And we’re not just asking for half of the cake. We’re demanding the whole bakery.”
If these words are still reminiscent of a well-known Christmas carol, the rest of the day is less contemplative. The action shifts to the Langstrasse district and becomes more and more aggressive. The participants in the unauthorized post-demonstration ignite torches and fire firecrackers at the approaching police. The emergency services, for their part, come up with water cannons and rubber shot. Passers-by duck their heads and flee. Numerous people are surrounded, others flee to the barracks area, where the traditional family celebration takes place and is sadly disturbed. Children also become victims of the riots.
Only losers remain (once again this day). The 1st of May – especially in warlike and confusing times – could be a peaceful and beautiful holiday. He could. Actually.
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