Regular readers of the World Socialist Web Site in the UK have given interviews or sent in personal appeals for workers and young people to take part in the International May Day Online Rally on Sunday.

Leaders from the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world Trotskyist movement, will outline a socialist and internationalist programme on which to organise global resistance by the working class against the threat of world war, the continuing pandemic, and destruction of the living standards and democratic rights.

Chris Donaghy, from Belfast, Northern Ireland

With everything going on in the world right now, the US-NATO wardrive, the Covid-19 pandemic, the pitiful wages being offered workers, the huge rise in poverty worldwide, asylum seekers not having the right to asylum, and the incredible increase of people being made homeless, I strongly encourage workers and youth of all races, religion, gender and sexual orientation to attend Sunday’s May Day rally.

The only war that everyone should be fighting is the war against the pandemic, as statistics show that the virus is still spreading like wildfire but the ruling class are only interested in profit. I feel that the restrictions should remain like keeping masks, social distancing and free PCR testing at least until the virus is under control. But the ruling class are only interested in filling their pockets.

Over here in Northern Ireland they have closed PCR testing centres, which I find completely and utterly irresponsible, why would you close them down when Covid is still spreading? The main parties in Northern Ireland only interest is profit making. National Health Service staff are working tirelessly to stop the spread of Covid yet where I live people are having to wait for up to 6 hours for an ambulance because they are stretched so thin.

NHS workers are heroes and deserve a massive increase in wages for keeping us safe during the pandemic. I lost my Mum to Covid on the 29th of October 2021 and I can't thank the staff at Royal Victoria Hospital enough for everything they did for her. I remember saying to one of the doctors looking after her in ICU, “Thank you for doing everything you can” and he said, “I just wish we could do more.” But they did everything in their power to save my Mum, there is not a day goes by where I don't think about her and I wish that I could turn back the clock to change it.

I believe that this upcoming meeting could well be the most important so far, as we must strongly oppose the reactionary war begun by Putin's invasion, but we must also strongly oppose the US-NATO wardrive! Please attend the May Day meeting to address the major problems facing the world right now.

Daniella is an opponent of the government's Covid response of letting it rip. She has worked closely with the Safe Education For All group and is a member of Fighting for Vulnerable Lives and the UK Educators Rank-and-File Committee 

I’m attending the May Day rally because this capitalist, imperialistic system cannot carry on. We are still in a raging pandemic, even though our governments are acting like it’s over and have made the general population feel as if it is over and dropped all mitigations under the cover of war with Ukraine.

This war is a distraction at a perfect time to divert people from what’s happening domestically, such as the Covid catastrophe and the cost-of-living crisis which has been created by the ruling class. They have failed in controlling Covid and not seeking peace through diplomacy and adhering to the Minsk agreement.

I do not agree with the Russian invasion, but we must look at the history of the situation and the people from the breakaway republic of ethnic Russian Ukrainians who have been shelled, with 14,000 people killed, over eight years by the Ukrainian army.

If there is not a social revolution, I fear we will be close to the end of humanity through Covid, war and climate change. The working class must stand up and say no more.

Diane Hatton is a retired bookkeeper from Manchester

I would encourage people to register for the May Day Rally to hear the views and unbiased news, contrary to the very selective western propaganda that is the only news available from our mainstream media.

Knowing from past experiences, I take all western media with a little pinch of salt because, let’s face it, we have been lied to and misled in the past—mainly due to the media being owned or funded by billionaires with their own agenda.

I also wonder why so many alternative free press sources have been silenced or blocked for reporting news that doesn’t suit the west’s narrative. It begs the question, what don’t they want us to know? When known liars such as our very own Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been caught not just lying to the British public but misleading parliament and lying to the queen, no less, why would we put our trust in the establishment now?

We are living in very scary times. I am old enough to remember the (albeit I was very young) Cuban missile crisis back in the 60s, and the deception at that time was that the Soviet Union posed a nuclear threat to the world by putting a nuclear arsenal in place on Cuba. However, what we were not told was that this action was in direct response to weapons placed by the USA on Turkish soil aimed at the Soviet Union. An agreement was reached by both powers. However, Cuba has been paying the price for this collaboration with the USSR ever since.

Despite the breakup of the Soviet Union, this has not deterred the US from continuing be a thorn in the side of Russia by whatever means possible. The USA has in my opinion done what it has done throughout history—to destabilise any country where there are spoils to be pillaged and keeping them firmly in the grip of world power. The USA has long held power like a school bully stealing the pocket money from all those around while the other western powers have held on to its coat. However, another big power has entered the playground and threatened the bully by refusing to hand over their pocket money. Now other big boys have joined the fight. Now all the little boys are starting to stand up to the bully.

The world has become a very dangerous place. But I believe that there is a growing appetite for change for the better, and we must encourage those around us to look beyond the lies and propaganda and seek for the truth.

Andrew is a chef from Inverness, Scotland

“With thousands of civilians and combatants dead in Ukraine, the US and NATO powers continue to attempt to spread their power and influence through blood and destruction. Through this militaristic provocation we risk not only losing the lives of the soldiers, forced to fight, or the civilians forced to lay down their lives in the name of vicious capitalism, but worldwide barbarism. The idea is that we are without the means to pose any challenge to these warmongers. That is not the case. We, the youth of today, have the means and motive to collect ourselves underneath the banner of socialism and rise up against these pseudo fascist powers.

Malcolm Bray is a former miner from Barnsley

I'm fully in support of the upcoming May Day online rally organised by the WSWS, a must event for all workers who are entering struggle across the world.

I’ve been attending the May Day rallies held by the International Committee of the Fourth International consistently over the years, which are genuinely international. The principle of international workers solidarity has become a dead letter as far as the trade unions are concerned. This May Day is even more critical given what is happening.

Workers are being hit hard by hikes in the cost of living. Workers have also endured terrible suffering through the pandemic and now the real threat of a world war by the US and NATO against Russia. Hundreds of thousands of workers around the world are standing up and fighting back against governments who are inflicting pain on millions through austerity. Governments and the media have stopped reporting on the pandemic, with a price paid in death by the working class which is tantamount to social murder.

Many are looking for answers to this crisis and a perspective, a perspective that will mobilise the greatest social force on the planet, the international working class. I've been posting on different sites on social media on this very important event that workers should join and listen to. The questions confronting workers cannot be fought from the standpoint of a single or isolated issue, but from a class standpoint and most importantly internationally. I'm truly looking forward to this event.

Chris Porter is a sociology lecturer from Manchester

There is no time more pressing than the present for the world's working class to rally in opposition to the reckless, deceitful drive of the profit-crazed ruling classes towards war, plunder and the sacrifice of countless lives to those ends. I'll be attending the May Day Rally and encourage anyone else who wants to make sense of what's going on in the world to also attend.