The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Students for Social Equality (ISSE) in Sri Lanka will hold a public meeting in Colombo on May 1 to mark the international workers’ day.

The working class throughout the globe is facing intensifying attacks on jobs, wages and living standards as governments seek to offload the burdens of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1930s. The drastic austerity measures being imposed in Greece are being replicated in country after country, setting the stage for sharp class battles as workers fight to defend their basic rights.

South Asia has been turned into a battle ground for great power competition. The US has extended its neo-colonial war in Afghanistan into Pakistan as it seeks to dominate the Middle East and Central Asia at the expense of its rivals, particularly China. All countries in the region are being caught in this dangerous vortex even as their governments impose harsh new economic measures on workers and the impoverished masses. The Sri Lankan government is about to deepen its onslaught on the living standards and democratic rights of working people.

The only way of ending war, escalating attacks on democratic rights and deepening social inequality is to abolish capitalism, which is the root cause. That requires the unification of workers internationally in the struggle for a world planned socialist economy. The SEP and its sister parties of the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world Trotskyist movement, are the only ones fighting for that revolutionary perspective. We warmly invite workers, youth and intellectuals to attend our meeting and to participate in the discussion.

Date and Time: May 1, 3 p.m.

Venue: New Town Hall, Green Path, Colombo 7

Main Speaker: Wije Dias, SEP General Secretary