Montreal-        Trade unionists, activists, and socialists of all stripes gathered on May 1^st to mark the International Day of Workers Solidarity, commonly known as May Day. Several hundred people gathered at Fullum Park in Montreal’s east end to show support for working class struggles around the world. The event was attended by dozens of unions and advocacy groups, including the CSN, the Association for Student Solidarity Trade Union (ASSE), the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the Union of Professors of the University of Quebec at Montreal (SPUQ), the Iranian Women’s Association, Mobilization Turcott, Quebec Solidaire, multiple communist parties, and members of the USWA Local 1005 Hamilton Steelworkers, who have been locked out since October 2010. The gathering was marked by a festive atmosphere, with music and balloons, which might be mistaken for a picnic rather than a protest. At one o’clock participants began to parade through the plateau neighbourhood waving flags and banners in support of workers’ rights, economic, and social justice. Near the end, a contingent of black and red flags broke off to join the anti-capitalist demonstration across town. The well attended march wound its way toward Pelican Park on St Joseph east, where a crowd of about five hundred listened to speakers from several groups before dispersing uneventfully.   

            Nadia, a member of the Iranian Women’s Association said that her group felt it was important to take part in the demonstration because women are also workers, and their rights are also human rights. They were also marching to bring attention to the conditions of workers in Iran, where independent trade unions are still illegal and organizers face torture and imprisonment, and also to support the group of mothers in Iran whose children were killed in post election protests two years ago, and who have been gathering in Laleh park each week since then. “We’re trying to support them here in Canada, to bring them attention. Lots of workers (in Iran) are in jail for trying to organize. We’re asking for freedom for them to be released.”

            The group of locked out steel workers from local 1005 who came all the way from Hamilton emphasized the importance of solidarity. Since US Steel bought the Canadian asset Stelco, the number of people it employs in this country has dropped from 13 000 to just 900, and last year the company locked them out in order to pressure members to accept a weaker contract, which would sacrifice most of their pensions. When the union called for a day of protest two months ago 10 000 people showed up in support, with a large number coming from Quebec.  A spokesperson for Local 1005 stated “For May Day, our members felt it was important to send a bus to Montreal, to show solidarity with our brothers”.

            Later that afternoon a more radical anti-capitalist demonstration was held at place Emilie-Gamelin, where activists gathered in a sea of black and red flags, sprinkled with pink, green, and yellow. The crowd numbered over a thousand considerably more militant participants.  The diverse assortment of revolutionary anarchists, environmental justice, and queer liberation groups joined together in calling for fundamental change, to eliminate the causes of classist, racist, and gender oppression rooted in the capitalist system itself.  A large part of the assembly was made up of families with children present, identified with yellow balloons and clothing, who took part in the non-violent demonstration to show solidarity against the police violence and intimidation that has marked the event in recent years.

            Following the speeches, demonstrators began to march west through the downtown from Berri along Maisoneuve, with the crowd stretching for several blocks, followed by police on horseback and several vans. A heavy police presence dominated the march, as riot police conducted military manoeuvres, flanking protesters along side streets, while a helicopter conducted surveillance overhead. Shortly after four p.m. a scuffle took place near St. Urbain, when protesters prevented police from snatching one person from the march. Police used pepper spray and one canister of teargas to push back demonstrators, but the march continued along Sherbrook. Police afterward attempted to split the clearly marked group of families known as the ‘Baby Bloc’ from the rest of the march, surrounding a group composed largely of children, pregnant mothers, and parents pushing strollers with armoured units on horseback, before allowing them to disperse. Though the march progressed without further incident, by the time it reached McGill College there were signs that police were preparing to use a pre-emptive kettling technique to encircle the demonstration, which then began to move toward Dorchester Square. Even as the protest began to disperse riot police began closing in, moving people off of the sidewalks and herding them into the street. At 5: 00 p.m. a line of approximately 100 police charged along Rene Levesque at the remaining 500 or so demonstrators, fragmenting the crowd and blocking off side streets. A half dozen people were detained by police before being released. One person was arrested.

            Lucien, a spokesperson for the Anti-Capitalist Convergence group, CLAC, who have helped to organize the event for the past four years, stated that the organizers wanted to have a family friendly demonstration to ensure the safety of participants. Families were clearly marked, and had already agreed to separate from the march in the event of confrontation. The police had been informed of this prior to the march, yet continued their policy of intimidation against peaceful demonstrators. “The attitude of police for the past four years has been one of provocation, to justify their intervening with force, but the more we hold strong with each other, the less the chance this has of working. I’m happy that this (anti-capitalist march) is still going on. That is something to be proud of.”