May 1, 2026
Workers’ offensive against capitalist exploitation!
Dear colleagues, those in power hypocritically talk about “security,” “prosperity,” and “peace”— while at the same time setting the world on fire! Never before have we been so close to a Third World War. In more and more countries fascist governments are ruling. The global environmental catastrophe is gaining momentum. And daily life is becoming more difficult: Hundreds of thousands of jobs are being destroyed, factories and training workshops are being closed. Retirement benefits and wages are falling, while rents and gasoline prices are rising.
Tackling the root of the problem
In 2020, German industrial corporations generated €209 in sales revenues per working hour of an industrial worker. By 2024, that figure had already risen to €266! Who of you received a 27% wage increase during this period?! Exploitation is intensifying, and the profits end up in the hands of the monopoly capitalists. In 2024, according to official figures, major German corporations received nearly 50 billion euros in subsidies, plus huge government contracts for arms and tax breaks. And then we’re told there’s no more money?! The ruling class is concentrating more and more capital in its own hands—while the working class and nature are being exploited ever more ruthlessly. That is capitalism! And that is why fundamental criticism of capitalism belongs on May 1st!
We, who create all value, are considered by Chancellor Merz to be lazy and spoiled by our lifestyle. Capitalism is leading humanity into barbarism. But why are all crises intensifying just now? The open crisis of the reorganization of international capitalist production has intensified. The world order existing up till now under U.S. hegemony has come to an end; new and old imperialist players are fighting for the reorganization of power and influence in the world. This is the driving force behind fascism, war, environmental destruction, and the attacks on the working class.
Millions on the move
In response, a united front comprising millions of people is forming against fascism, war, the dismantling of social achievements, and the offensive of exploitation in the workplaces. The working-class movement is increasingly organizing strikes and protests in the fight for every job, against wage erosion, raising of the retirement age, and extending of the workweek. It is also increasingly turning its attention to the big issues, such as the dockworkers did with their international strike day on 6 February against war preparations and arms shipments. Mass protests with nine million people on 28 March, strikes, courageous self-organization, solidarity and self-defense put Trump on the defensive.
The dramatic global situation is an incentive to take up the fight, to organize. Let’s bring clarity where there is confusion.
Fight against the fascist threat
The AfD and cohorts hypocritically exploit people’s discontent. Their growing influence is dangerous, because behind their modern facade lies a fascist agenda.
Make socialism great again!
Donald Trump labels nearly all his opponents as communists. This makes it clear: The main opponents of capitalism are people who fight for a socialist society, Marxist-Leninists, their ideology of freedom, and their scientific plan. It’s time to overcome anti-communist propaganda, the banning of ideas, and reservations! Don’t give anti-communism a chance!
The struggles need a positive social perspective! The MLPD has a differentiated evaluation of both the great achievements and the far-reaching mistakes and problems in the construction of socialism. The conclusions drawn from this ensure that the mistakes are not repeated, that a selfless proletarian mode of thinking characterizes socialism, that bureaucratism and egoism cannot prevail, and that the working class and broad masses build their own socialism.
Workers of all countries, unite!
Workers of all countries and all oppressed, unite!
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Fight for every job and training position!
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For a full legal right to strike in all matters!
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Fight against the shifting of the burdens of war and crisis—for a turnover-based social tax of 8 percent on corporations!
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For a 10 percent trainee quota and permanent employment after completion of the training!
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For an immediate increase in wages and all social benefits—at least in line with real inflation!
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No extension of the workday or the retirement age! A 30-hour workweek with full wage compensation could create jobs.
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No to increased armament and compulsory military service! No German Federal Army abroad! Stop advertising for the army! No to the shift to a war economy!
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For the ban of the AfD, ZENTRUM and all fascist organizations and their propaganda!
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Environmental protection at the cost of profits! Save humanity from decline in the global environmental catastrophe! Fight for an environmental tax on monopolies responsible for pollution!
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For the liberation of women and the future of the youth!