May Day Song

Let the winds lift your banners from far lands      

With a message of strife and of hope:

Raise the Maypole aloft with its garlands      

That gathers your cause in its scope....

...Stand fast, then, Oh Workers, your ground,      

Together pull, strong and united:

Link your hands like a chain the world round,     

If you will that your hopes be requited.

When the World's Workers, sisters and brothers,      

Shall build, in the new coming years,

A lair house of life—not for others,      

For the earth and its fullness is theirs.

Walter Crane, The Workers' Maypole, 1894

A LEADER

• Iwent on a search to become a leader.

• I searched high and low. I spoke with authority. People listened. Alas, there was one who was wiser than I, and they followed that person.

• I sought to inspire confidence, and the crowd responded: "Why should I trust you?" I postured, and I assumed the look of leadership with a countenance that flowed with confidence and pride. And many passed me by and did not notice my air of elegance.

• I ran ahead of the others and pointed the way to new heights. I showed that I know the route to greatness and then looked back and discovered I was alone.

• "What shall I do?" I queried. "I've tried hard and used all that I knew." I sat down and pondered. And then I listened to voices around me. I heard what the group was trying to accomplish. I rolled up my sleeves and joined in the work.

• As we worked, I asked: "Are we all together in what we want to do and how to get the job done?"

• And we thought together, and fought together, and struggled toward our goal. I found myself encouraging the fainthearted. I sought ideas of those too shy to speak out. I taught those who had little skill. I praised those who worked hard. When our task was completed, one of the group turned to me and said: "This would not have been done but for your leadership."

• At first I said: "I didn't lead. I just worked with the rest." And then I understood, leadership is not a goal, it is a way of reaching a goal. I lead best when I help others to go where we've decided to go. I lead best when I help others to use themselves creatively. 1 lead best when I forget about myself as a leader and focus on my group.....their needs and their goals.

• To lead is to serve....to give ....to achieve together.

ANONYMOUS

From the Speakers Sourcebook 2, Glenn Van Ekeren: Prentice Hall; Englewood Cliffs MJ 1994.

About May Day (May, 1)

May Day is celebrated by workers around the world as an expression of their international solidarity and shared political aspirations for freedom.

In 1884, the U.S. Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions had passed a law declaring that, as of May 1, 1886, an eight hour workday would be the full and legal workday for all U.S. workers – the ruling class had that much time to recognise this new law and put it into effect. The owners refused.

On May 1, 1886, workers took to the streets in a general strike throughout the entire country to force the ruling class to recognise the eight-hour working day. Over 350,000 workers across the country directly participated in the general strike, with hundreds of thousands of workers joining the marches as best they could.

In what they would later call the Haymarket riots, during the continuing strike action on May 3 in Chicago, the heart of the U.S. labour movement, the Chicago police opened fire on the unarmed striking workers at the McCormick Reaper Works, killing six workers and wounding untold numbers. An uproar across the nation resounded against the government and its police brutality, with workers' protest rallies and demonstrations throughout the nation set to assemble on the following day. On May 4, Chicago members of the IWPA (International Working Peoples' Association) organized a rally of several thousand workers at Haymarket Square to protest the continuing police brutality against striking workers on the South Side. As the last speaker finished his remarks that rainy evening, with only 200 of the most dedicated workers remaining at the rally, 180 armed police marched forward and demanded the workers to disperse. Then, deep within the police ranks, a bomb exploded, killing seven cops. The police opened fire on the unarmed workers – the number of workers wounded and killed by the cops is unknown to this day. Eight anarchists were arrested on charges of "inciting riot" and murder. The retaliation of the government was enormous in the days to follow, filling every newspaper with accusations, completely drowning the government murders and brutality of days past. Eight workers were convicted as anarchists, were convicted of murder, and were convicted of inciting a riot. Only one of the eight men accused was present at the protest, and he was attempting to address the crowd when the bomb went off. In one of the greatest show trials in the history of the working-class movement no evidence was ever produced to uphold the accusations, though all eight were convicted as guilty. Four of the prisoners – Albert Parsons, August Spies, George Engel and Adolph Fisher – were executed, Louis Lingg committed suicide, and the three remaining were pardoned due to immense working class upheaval in 1893. On May 1, 1890, in accordance with the decision of the Paris Congress (July 1889) of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket martyrs, mass demonstrations and strikes were held throughout Europe and America. The workers put forward the demands for an 8 hour working day, better health conditions, and further demands set forth by the International Association of Workers. The Red Flag was here created as the symbol that would always remind us of the blood that the working-class has bleed, and continues to bleed, under the oppressive reign of capitalism.

Speak Up !

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) on Nazis in Germany

Characteristics of a Successful Leadership Style

The following characteristics, traits and actions may be attributed as key to become a successful leader:

• Choose to lead.

• Be the person others choose to follow.

• Provide vision for the future.

• Provide inspiration.

• Make other people feel important and appreciated.

• Live your values. Behave ethically.

• Set the pace through your expectations and example.

• Establish an environment of continuous improvement.

• Provide opportunities for people to grow, both personally and professionally.

• Care and act with compassion.

Quotes on TEAMWORK

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up."
— Babe Ruth

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much"
— Helen Keller

"May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home."
— Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

"Only by binding together as a single force will we remain strong and unconquerable."
— Chris Bradford, The Way of the Dragon

 "Teamwork is the secret that make common people achieve uncommon result."
— Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha