A united, joyful May Day rally
Preparations for 1 May have begun. The Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DİSK), which has shared the Executive Board’s Final Statement, emphasised its aim of holding a united, joyful and mass celebration on 1 May; it also announced that the process would be treated as a mobilisation drive.
Labour Service
The final statement of the DİSK Executive Board, which met on 31 March, has been published.
The statement emphasized that the attacks by the United States and Israel, as well as ongoing wars, primarily have a negative impact on the global working class. It said: “The massive increase in oil prices is driving up inflation across the world, particularly in our country, which is already an inflation champion, and is reducing our purchasing power. More inflation means more poverty, greater difficulty in making a living, and less democracy for us.”
DİSK, which convened the Executive Board, announced that it has decided to celebrate May Day in a “united, joyful, and mass” manner. The statement also underlined that gathering in Taksim Square is a just, legitimate, and legal right. However, no specific location for the celebration has yet been designated in the declaration.
Calling on workers to organize, the statement noted: “The May Day process will be regarded not only as the process of organizing May 1, 2026 Unity, Struggle, and Solidarity Day but also as a process of organizing the working class.”
The decisions taken by the DİSK Presidents’ Council regarding the upcoming May Day were listed as follows: “Viewing May Day 2026 as an important threshold for an organizing mobilization and as an opportunity for the expression of accumulated social dissent, the DİSK Presidents’ Council has decided to initiate preparations to celebrate May Day, Unity, Struggle, and Solidarity Day on May 1, 2025 in a strong, united, joyful, and mass manner.
Determined to amplify the call for organization from May Day platforms spread as widely as possible across Turkey, the DİSK Presidents’ Council recalls that May Day in Turkey has become identified with Taksim Square. For this reason, it emphasizes that gathering in Taksim for May Day in Istanbul is just, legitimate, and lawful, and declares the continuation of the struggle to end the unlawful ban on this right.”
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Birleşik, coşkulu kitlesel 1 Mayıs, published in BirGün newspaper on April 8, 2026.
