May Day Parade – Croydon 2013 – SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR)

On Saturday May the 4^th, 2013, the Trades Union Congress for the Croydon area arranged a May Day Parade to commemorate the struggle and sacrifice of the workers in the UK and around the world is the struggle for equality and social justice. Represented were a number of trade unions and the South London branch of the Communist Party of Britain. The march began in Elmwood Road around 1230pm – and meandered through Croydon town centre to Ruskin House, the home of the TUC and the Communist Party. There were around 60 people at the start, all holding red banners and flags, and when marching through the town many more people joined in the parade.

The march lasted around an hour, and was led by a band of bagpipes and drums. Men, women, and children, including a baby or two, marched to mark this special day for the workers, and to protest the current rightwing national government of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition, which has relentlessly pursued a ruthless policy of attacking the vulnerable, the weak, the desperate, and the poor, by cutting welfare provision, education, and the National Health Service. In the UK today it is a sad truth that food parcels are now being handed to people who have nowhere else to go. Workers should unite and free themselves from this slavish existence. This march is in the name of the workers and those in society who suffer from inequality and injustice, and who do not possess the power to fight back.

Bagpipes & Drums - Fire Brigades Union — Bagpipes & Drums – Fire Brigades Union

Sea of Red - View from Inside the March — Sea of Red – View from Inside the March

A small selection of banners and flags from the various groups and unions taking part, including Disability Groups and the Royal College of Midwives protesting the cuts to maternity care in UK hospitals;