May Day relish | Claudette Abela Baldacchino

That the working class has to work to earn a decent living is an understatement. Their transformation into a more prosperous sector of the population is yet another reality, away from the desperate situation they were in only a decade ago when austerity imposed by European right wing forces was the order of the day.

How things have changed was confirmed in the past few days when a Eurostat survey showed 70% of the Maltese people today find no problem in paying their bills at the end of every month.

The emergence of this new, highly-motivated Maltese working class has been achieved thanks only to better incomes and benefits which, together, provide also for a new different lifestyle that finds the time – and means – for holidays abroad, frequent visits to restaurants and entertainment places, home facade and indoor refurbishment, restful hours in the new open spaces and green areas of our towns and villages. It is not a transformation that has happened by accident, but thanks only to the Labour government’s unstinting work during the past 11 years.

Is this the Garden of Eden in which absolute happiness occurs? Hardly, for there was only one such place in the history of humanity. But what an incredible difference 11 years have made for Maltese and Gozitan families. There are, no doubt, significant pockets in Maltese society of people who still need support from the State mainly because of social and health issues. This is a fact recognised by the Labour government since budget after budget it introduced and updated schemes and initiatives to help the vulnerable better face the challenges they have to endure in life.

There is no time to stand still, more so for this dynamic Labour government bent on further broadening the Maltese middle class by pushing working-class families up the social ladder through more and better work opportunities that eventually lead to better lifestyles, ambitions and aspirations. It is a silent revolution based on social justice and innovation, backed by consecutive tax-free budgets, a reality that continues to mesmerise our European partners.

It is why the Maltese and Gozitan people zealously celebrate May Day every year. Labour has been doing so for many decades, sometimes against the tide of misled opposition from the establishment until today’s national consensus on the meaning of this celebration was reached.

Happily, gone are the days when the colonial rulers and the ecclesiastic authorities saw May Day as a “dangerous” celebration that united workers all over the world. Gone also are the accusations of “communism” and “anticlericalism” for too long used as barriers against progress and social mobility.

Unlike some other nations, we are fortunate May Day is still a national holiday, during which even those among us who opposed it in the past are today celebrating it. Not that efforts have not been made in the past to tarnish it by the introduction of religious and political same-day events.

May Day, however, is not merely an occasion to celebrate the past. Paying tribute to previous generations of working men and women is a considerable part of it all.

Theirs was a selfless sacrifice for us to get to where we are today. But looking ahead is a precious prerequisite for the actual working class. These are times of particular accomplishments by a Maltese society that knows where it wants to go and how to do it while working for peace at a time when there are two major wars raging. Yes, there is also that restricted circle of frustrated politicians and their henchmen who’d rather stoke the fires of war, alas.

For Maltese and Gozitan workers, May Day will always be our greatest day. It comes at a time when we are resolutely fine-tuning the Labour Party machine in readiness for the European Parliament and local council elections in June.

Claudette Abela Baldacchino is a Labour MEP election candidate