The situation for the working population in Germany is worsening every day. Reports of rising inflation, stagnating real wages, and increasing rents and food prices reach us daily. This especially affects Frankfurt (Oder). Here, rents have skyrocketed in recent years, largely driven up by West German investors.

While our public infrastructure is being privatized and ruthlessly underfunded, the so-called €49 ticket is now already the €58 ticket. Contrary to the promises of ODEG, the RE1 train only runs twice an hour—highly irregular and often replaced by substitute services. This makes the already too expensive commute to work even harder for many.

Due to budget cuts in the cultural sector, everything that could provide a break from work is being destroyed. Public and social life in Frankfurt is being further restricted. The shortage of skilled workers is being used to shift more and more work onto the shoulders of fewer and fewer employees, instead of tackling the structural problems at their root.

At the same time, the police state is being expanded across Germany. We feel this firsthand here in Frankfurt (Oder). Border controls cause traffic jams, make commuting even more difficult, and racially target those who don’t fit a certain image.

With our new government led by the right-wing and neoliberal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, retirement at 63 is at risk. Contrary to the promises made by the SPD, the minimum wage is not set to rise for now. The 8-hour workday is also on the chopping block.

In short: everything that brings joy is being sacrificed to austerity. While work increases and life gets more expensive, the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

We are taking to the streets on May 1st, International Workers’ Day, just like so many before us.
Since 1890, May Day has been the day of struggle for the workers’ movement. We owe the 8-hour workday and all other labor rights and improvements to the Working Class standing up. Without labor struggles, we would still be working 12-hour days, seven days a week. We will not allow ourselves to be pushed back to that point.

We demand a affordable and dignified life for all.
Housing, culture, and infrastructure must be removed from private hands, made more affordable, and function better.
Wages must rise and be adjusted to match daily living costs.
Pensions, fair working hours, and the voice of workers must be secured and expanded.
To ensure everyone has access to higher education, we demand a BAföG (student financial aid) that is independent of parental income.

We don’t need a shift to the right or nationalism—we need redistribution and class struggle!

So join us on May 1st at 6:30 PM at the market square, leave your national flags at home, and fight with us for our future.