The leader of the Shiite National Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, emphasized today, Wednesday, that countries have been built by the efforts of workers. He stressed the need for "diligent, patriotic workers who stay away from amusement and evasion to be the first badge of honor in our beloved Iraq."
Al-Sadr stated: "I am not exaggerating when I say that May 1 is not a holiday for workers but a holiday for laborers, not because its idea is Western nor because workers do not deserve an annual holiday to celebrate, but it is illogical for workers in our societies to have an annual holiday while they suffer tremendously, having no rights whatsoever, stripped of will and opinion, left only with a list of obligations."
He added: "Workers have no security from the risks they face in their jobs, only a scant few shattered and dormant laws that do not satisfy any hunger, and they receive only a handful of money given as alms by powerful and dominating politicians, akin to slavery. However, workers maintain their dignity and pride, refusing to submit to humiliation, corruption, and injustice."
Al-Sadr continued, "I am convinced that if it weren’t for the workers, countries would not have been built, and if it weren’t for their efforts, lands would not have been developed. Yet they have fallen victim to tyranny, corruption, partisanship, and sectarianism, all of which pose a greater threat to workers than the advancements in technology that have displaced many laborers, leaving them in continuous unemployment affecting both young and old in our beloved Iraq, where the labor class has been pushed aside for the sake of partisanship, favoritism, artificial loyalty, and sectarianism."
He reiterated, "No, Labor Day is not merely about chants and speeches rising here and there; workers must be the forefront in taking the reins of construction, development, prosperity, and advancement by reclaiming their rights, respecting them, and motivating them both morally and materially. Those who toil and work in our homeland receive only a meager survival as they say, while those living in palaces and luxurious homes unjustly receive the sustenance of the entire people, resulting from wrongs, aggression, and corruption. It is essential that diligent, patriotic workers who stay away from amusement and evasion be the first badge of honor in our beloved Iraq."
He concluded by saying, "Workers belong to the nation and for the nation, and I am hopeful they will not abandon their love for the homeland, nor seek to serve nations that are not theirs, and they should not bow to injustice and corruption as we have known them."
