President Michael D. Higgins issues May Day Statement

President Michael D. Higgins issued a statement celebrating May Day and expressing solidarity with workers worldwide. He talked about the significance of International Workers’ Day and the role played by trade unions in supporting workers’ rights.

President Higgins welcomed the introduction of Ireland’s Trade Union Week, building on the campaign of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ ‘Better in a Trade Union’.

He stated, “The rights of workers today owe so much to the efforts of trade unionist women and men. Ireland has a long and proud tradition of trade unionism - a movement which has played a key role in securing human rights, that in the Irish experience is inextricably interlinked with our nation’s struggle for independence.”

About the changing economic conditions globally and locally, President Higgins said, “History tells us that the best outcomes for workers, their defence, and their prospects, continue to be best achieved by being a trade union member.”

He also mentioned the ongoing struggle for decent work and the importance of creating a more equal society where all work is valued. President Higgins particularly called for recognition of the work of workers in the care sector.

President Higgins urged workers to look to the trade union movement, stating, "It is to the trade union movement that workers can look with both ambition and realism, learn how to focus on what might be termed ‘the art of the possible’ that is embedded in the international vision that unions have historically exemplified, envisioned in terms of what we can achieve together, tapping humans’ endless capabilities within a framework of protective, inclusive labour rights, rights that safeguard workers, particularly the most vulnerable."

He concluded by saying, “So on this special day shared by workers all over the world, let us hear it loud and clear. Join the union, and in protecting and redefining the world of work, together build a decent, fulfilling world.”