Al-Midan* Editorial: 

♦️ May First: International Workers’ Day 

Al-Midan 4458, Thursday, 30 April 2026 

The peoples of the world mark the first of May as a momentous political and social occasion - one in which the spirit of international solidarity is rekindled and the struggle for justice renewed. On this day, red flags rise from balconies and ripple through vast, resounding marches, carried by working people as they flood the streets of cities across the globe - from Cape Town and Dar es Salaam to New Delhi, Hanoi, Beijing, Moscow, and New York; from Dakar to Havana and Santiago. 

In their hundreds of millions, they gather in public squares, not merely to commemorate, but to reaffirm a collective resolve: to press forward in the struggle for their rightful claims - a dignified and secure working day, inviolable trade union freedoms, and a system of social protection that upholds the dignity of workers and their families. 

On the other side of the global divide, in countries weighed down by subordinate and authoritarian regimes, and amid the deepening crises of global capitalism - most sharply expressed through the projections of American hegemony - wars intensify and the theatres of conflict widen. From occupied Palestine to Sudan, and from Lebanon and Syria to Iran, communists and their allies stand in resolute opposition to the machinery of destruction. They call for an end to senseless wars, while binding that demand to an unwavering defense of workers’ rights - not in conditions of deprivation and marginalization, but within a new horizon shaped by the imperatives of peace, freedom, and social justice. 

In Sudan, since the emergence of the Workers’ Affairs Body in the late 1940s, the working class - aligned with the forces of progress - has waged a sustained and determined struggle to organize its ranks and forge its independent trade union instrument. This historic trajectory culminated in the founding of the Sudan Workers’ Trade Union Federation, which rose as a steadfast platform of struggle. From that vantage, it played decisive roles at critical national junctures, secured meaningful gains for workers, and earned broad regional and international recognition as the legitimate voice of Sudanese workers. 

On this occasion, we recall with pride and reverence the contributions of the pioneering vanguards of the labor movement who laid the foundations of this edifice - figures such as Qasim Amin, Al-Shafi‘ Ahmad Al-Sheikh, Al-Hajj ‘Abd al-Rahman, Ibrahim Zakaria, and their comrades - alongside the creative alliance forged with revolutionary intellectuals among the communists, led by the martyr ‘Abd al-Khaliq Mahjub and his comrades. 

The establishment of the General Federation of Trade Unions constituted a central lever in advancing the struggles of our people and a decisive force in consolidating national and democratic currents. This unfolded in tandem with the growth of effective mass organizations - democratic student fronts, the Sudanese Youth Union, and the Women’s Union - which emerged as enduring instruments of struggle rooted in the popular base. 

Today, the urgency of restoring these mass organizations to their vanguard role has never been greater. They stand at the forefront of confronting the gravest challenges facing the country: ending the war, overcoming de facto authorities, and forging a national democratic alternative grounded in civilian rule. This war, in one of its central dimensions, seeks to erode the hard-won gains of the working class and to dismantle or subordinate its organizations - an intent made plain in the decrees of the so-called Registrar of Labour Organizations, as well as in sweeping policies of dismissal and the suspension of wages and pensions. These measures strike directly at livelihoods and undermine the dignity of working people.

May First, then, is no mere commemoration; it is a renewal of struggle - an occasion on which the unity of the working class is not only reaffirmed but reforged, and the strength of its collective will is asserted with clarity and resolve. 

Glory and eternity to the martyrs of the Sudanese working class. 

Long live the memory of May First, International Workers’ Day - victory to our people and to its working class.

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*Al-Midan is the daily newspaper of the Sudanese Communist Party.