WFTU greeting message for the Red Flag Festival

The World Federation of Trade Unions, the militant voice of 105 million workers living, working, and struggling in 134 countries across five continents, welcomes the Red Flag Festival, which is an important initiative to honor and commemorate Jim Connell, the Irish trade unionist whose anthem "The Red Flag" was sung as a song of struggle and resistance by workers in various corners of the earth.

At the same time, the linking of this militant initiative with Bob Crow, former General Secretary of the RMT, United Kingdom, reinforces the class-oriented and internationalist character of the festival and highlights the struggles of the trade union movement in the transport sector and in general.

The international class-oriented trade union movement welcomes such initiatives, which bring together people who believe in the power of collective social action and highlight the history, struggles, and pioneers of the labor and trade union movement.

The messages of the festival are aligned with the goals and struggles of the World Federation of Trade Unions, which has recently completed 80 years of uninterrupted life and glorious action. Especially at a time when the multiple crises of capitalism are oppressing the lives and prospects of the working classes and undermining the achievements and gains of workers, the festival serves as a networking platform for groups, organizations, and individuals who share the values and visions of the working class.

The WFTU wishes every success to the organization and the multidimensional goals of the Red Flag Festival, with the conviction that only through the collective and class-oriented struggles of the trade union and labor movement can the contemporary needs of the working class be met and the path be paved for the construction of a human-centered society and the abolition of the exploitation of man by man.