A Call to Reclaim May Day Protest the IMF & World Bank on May 1, 1995 (The following is excerpted from the forthcoming January 1995 Industrial Worker, monthly newspaper of the Industrial Workers of the World.) We see today that the main purpose of the Cold War was to prevent our movements for a better life, our class and our organizations in the First World, the East and the Third World from coming together. Such alliances could seriously threaten the existence of all exploitative institutions, whether they are ruled by corporations or by the state, whether they call themselves capitalist or socialist. The end of the Cold War was the result, at least in part, of the refusal to accept this division by people in the First, Second and Third worlds. But the end of this form of rule has only led to the whole world coming together under the tyranny of one global system of exploitation managed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Band (IMF/WB), and backed up by the military repression of the United States, the UN, and virtually all the governments of the world. These institutions were consciously created at the Bretton Woods Conference in the U.S. in 1944 to constitute a capitalist international. The Communist and Third World nationalist bureaucracies gradually became active collaborators with the IMF/WB, using foreign debts to discipline their own working classes. The IMF and the World Bank are this year arrogantly celebrating their 50th anniversary. We at Neither East Nor West-NYC and Workers' Solidarity Alliance/New York & New Jersey are inviting you to join us in organizing a day of action against the IMF and the World Bank to be held on (or around) Monday May 1, 1995. We have chosen May Day because we wish to reclaim the tradition of worldwide working-class unity. The May Day tradition (which began as a commemoration for the martyrdom of anarchist activists following a general strike for a shorter work week in the United States in 1886) has become somewhat hollow for those raised on Communist-bloc war parades, empty leftist marches in Europe and parts of the Third World, and Law Day in the U.S. Now more than ever, we need to work together independent of official borders. Our hope is that worldwide coordinated actions will help to expand this badly needed planetary alliance against those institutions which have done so much damage to people, communities, cultures and the environment all over the world. In choosing this day, we are also building on an older May Day tradition of celebrating the annual reawakening of the earth in spring. We are reclaiming our planet from these desecrators of the land who expropriate and exploit us. We especially hope to bring the role of the IMF and the World Bank to the attention of North Americans and others from the western countries who are less aware of the role of these organizations even within their own countries. The IMF and World Bank are located in the U.S. They are funded primarily by the richest governments. The suffering of people in First World countries is the result of IMF and World Bank policies no less than in other parts of the world. Throughout the world, the growth of homelessness, loss of farms and jobs, destruction of neighborhoods and communities, slashing of social programs and education, de-capitalization of local industries, creation of artificial famines, and repression of labor and other social movements have all grown as a result of IMF/World Bank policies. We also hope that this day of action can help build autonomous contacts and networks between peoples in every part of the planet. Such contacts have until recently been limited and made more problematic by the division of the world into two Cold War blocs, and by the political loyalties which developed around this division. Nearly every country in the world, regardless of political ideology, "capitalist" or "communist," has been devastated by "structural adjustment programs," the debt crisis and development schemes organized by the IMF and World Bank. All over the world, people are beginning to express their hatred of these bureaucrats and their policies. Demonstrations and revolts against the IMF/WB have already taken place in dozens of countries ranging from Russia to Mexico, from Melanesia to the West Bank, from Lagos to West Berlin. The time has come to act together for an end to the IMF and World Bank. The statist solutions of the past are repudiated, and nearly every government has collaborated with or surrendered to the IMF/WB, and has imposed austerity and repression. Only a new movement everywhere, for a world without supranational government, can free our lives from the authoritarianism and exploitation which go by the names "structural adjustment," "privatization," "liberalization," the "free market," the "global economy," "budget austerity," "democracy." We are finally able to pay attention to the man behind the curtain. How we envision the campaign: % We are not "in charge" of this project. We are volunteering to act as facilitators for communication on the project. We want to start talking about the kinds of action that different groups would like to do and what resources they have available. % Not everyone has an IMF or WB office to protest at. But everyone has various state or corporate offices that enforce IMF/WB policies. % Of course all groups have autonomy to pursue their own other demands, etc. % Your protest doesn't have to happen exactly on May 1, just near enough. % We would like everyone to contact us as soon as they have some ideas about what they are going to do, so we can start passing on the information to the other groups. We will do several mailings about the proposed plans, and will be sending out some kind of IMF/World Bank information packet (if you can help with this, please let us know). % We are also not dictating the kinds of action to be taken. If your group feels it would be most effective participating in the traditional May Day actions in your locale, or in a larger anti-IMF/WB action in your area, do so by all means and pass the news on to us. % Please contact us to let us know what you think, so we can start planning for May Day 1995. % When it's over we'd like reports and photos from the various actions so we can report back to all that participated. % We'd like to see May Day '95 as the launch point for ongoing anti-IMF/WB battles, plus any other coordinated activity. Send replies to Neither East Nor West-NYC, 339 Lafayette St #2, New York NY 10012 USA (718/449-7720). This call is also available in Russian, Japanese, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, French and German. The Industrial Worker has been THE North American voice of revolutionary unionism for more than 75 years. To subscribe send $15 to Industrial Worker Distribution, P.O. Box 2056, Ann Arbor MI 48106. The Industrial Worker editorial offices are at 4043 N. Ravenswood #205, Chicago IL 60613 (312/549- 5045). To reach us by email write: jbekken@igc.apc.org