Thank you for being here and putting Bulgaria on the map of socialist left movements around the world! Today, everywhere, on every continent and in every country, there are people who continue something that began a long time ago. A fight for justice and dignity. Somewhere there are hundreds, somewhere there are hundreds of thousands, different in nationality, ethnicity, religion, but united by the understanding that the power of labor can and must oppose the enormous and crushing power of capital. And you are part of this movement! And when someone says you are not there, answer them: “No, dear, we are everywhere!“.
There is a small but eternally dominant class that even today, in Bulgaria and Europe, says: “Enough with this May Day. This is outdated. Haven't you earned your rights? Aren't they included in the legislation?“. Yes, we do indeed have a Labor Code and acquired rights. When at the end of the 19th century, Chicago workers took to the streets to rebel with one clear demand - an eight-hour workday so that they could have another eight hours to rest and another eight for themselves, for their families, to live - they managed to win it. And today, thanks to their struggle and that of many others, this norm is enshrined in our legislation.
But is that really so? Aren't we standing with our eyes closed before another reality? How would people from the dominant, but small class explain what causes the epidemics of various physical and mental disorders? What causes exhaustion, overheating, and depression? Don't we see that the vast majority of our working compatriots work far beyond their working hours? They do it by default, without anyone telling them, without extra pay. They know that they have to answer the phone, that they are tied to all sorts of networks, that there is always another email. They know and accept it.
Those eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, and eight hours for themselves are not just the norm, they are a limit. A limit beyond which exploitation begins. And today we are in a situation of exploitation, especially cynical, because it is not the result of pressure, but the result of a system. And this exploitation seems to be unseen by anyone. No one rebels against this exploitation. It seems accepted, and some might even call it "voluntary." But it is not, and there is a price to pay for it. The price of broken families and atomized society, the price of violence in and beyond the home, the price of continuous division and the emptying of our country of people. This price is paid! This price is paid without anyone asking us if we want to pay it.
They say, this is how the system was. It is as if the system fell from the sky. And it is the fruit of a purposeful policy, of a clear ideological choice, in which man is simply a means of production. And what is left for this working person? The statistics are eloquent. According to the NSI, one third of Bulgarian citizens are threatened by poverty or social exclusion. One fifth of Bulgarian citizens live in poverty. If you cannot live well with work, perseverance, honesty and integrity, isn't this a social system in which it becomes clear that not work, integrity and honesty are the values, but fraud, fraud and betrayal? The price of work is the price of our honest society. And when one robs another, what we see happens.
These are the big issues of our time. They will not be able to be resolved by themselves. Only an organized and broad movement of left-wing political forces, trade union movements, civil organizations, and authoritative and honest individuals who have the courage to call things as they are and the audacity to try to change them can stand against the power of capital, dominating the media and almost all parties. This has been done by a series of movements since the 19th century. This has also happened here, in Bulgaria. And today's May Day should become the first day of this process!
The difficult months ahead should not and cannot be an excuse. They should be an ambition. Let us organize ourselves, let us open up, let us see the real problems of our fellow citizens and together with them change Bulgaria for the better. This is what lies ahead of us, because we do not have a second life! And we do not have another country either! Therefore, let us take care of our lives, create the conditions for our children's lives to be better, and save Bulgaria from the injustice and inequalities that are tearing it apart. This is what we must say today, which we will repeat tomorrow, which we will do in the coming days here, in Sofia, and everywhere in the country. Thank you for being here! Let's fight! Enough of the working poor! This struggle that I am talking about has its foundations, its organizations - the trade union movements with which we are together today. They can count on our understanding and support. I am sure that we can count on theirs too.
But this struggle is also waged for the minds and hearts of people. It is waged both with persuasion and with entering into a dispute. That is why today I want to mention another holiday - the holiday of the newspaper “Duma“ and of the left press. The place of free speech, a terrain for critical thought. There we must reappear and spread our ideas in a different way, to reach a wider circle of people, to challenge others to a dispute. My respects to all journalists and intellectuals who work every day to ensure that the word of left-wing thought reaches the people. Thank you! A bow! In this difficult moment, we will stand together.
Thank you for being here! We continue forward! And upwards!