On this May Day, the International Women’s Alliance calls on all working and oppressed women to join with the workers of the world to advance their struggles and fight back against their exploiters and oppressors. The world is in an accelerated decline as the economic and political crisis further fuels US imperialism to reach desperate measures to keep its position as the number one superpower. The people of the world are confronted with more prospects for war, economic depression, and growing fascism. For women, who bear the brunt of this severe crisis, this means we must continue to strengthen our will and fighting capacity to get organized and join in the struggles for genuine peace, national, and social liberation.

This year marks 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted by the United Nations member states in 1995. Despite some progress for women, we are still far from reaching the intended goals three decades later. 

In most countries, particularly in the Global South, women serve as the backbone of their economies and are largely found in the informal sector, where they face additional barriers to labor protections and benefits as well as access to social and other government provisions. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 60% of workers globally are found in informal sectors (agricultural workers, temporary workers, gig economy workers, domestic labor, street vendors, etc.) where employment is precarious, making workers more vulnerable to hazardous working conditions. Women in the informal economy also face additional issues of workplace harassment, sexual abuse, and even femicide. While informal employment is more prevalent in Asia Pacific and Africa, high-income countries are also found to have a considerable number of workers in the informal economy, about 20%.

Over one third of the world’s working women are employed in the agricultural industry, which includes the production of food and non-food agricultural products, as well as other related activities including food storage, transportation, and processing to distribution. Gender inequality between men and women in the agricultural sector continues as women farm workers earn less than men (20 cents less), are deprived of regular access to education and other resources, and also take on the additional burden as the primary caretaker for their families.

In the Philippines, women are the largest borrowers of microlending (90%) to meet the growing demands of their families, as devastating man-made climate catastrophes impact their livelihoods. Extreme climate conditions destroy crop production, forcing many farmers to borrow money to recoup from their losses. Major international financial institutions like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank pushed neoliberal microfinancing loan programs in the early 2000s as a means to address the issue of poverty, and these neoliberal schemes continue today. Millions of dollars in loans were poured into “partner” institutions like CARD Inc., a microfinancing group in the Philippines, which made billions of dollars in profit in 2024 alone. Microlending ultimately serves as an added burden that keeps the majority of farmers locked in a permanent cycle of loss and poverty. It spreads due to the fascist government's lack of subsidy and services for agriculture and its deliberate feeding of farmers to greedy usurers and imperialist institutions.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s 2nd stint as President of the United States has caused international turmoil with the signing of 142 executive orders in his first 100 days, focusing on immigration, trade, and government efficiency, and he is now being faced with over 200 pending legal challenges. Since Trump has come to power, 158,000 have been detained (some with legal residency) and over 142,000 people deported, many without due process. Trump has expanded ICE’s ability to detain whole families by including the detention of young children, showing the egregiousness of the Trump administration. 

Campaigns to defend migrants subject to ICE’s repressive tactics have sparked massive protests around the country. Migrant defense networks like Tanggol Migrante (Defend Migrants) to support Filipino migrants in detention have proven victorious when people come together to organize. On April 30, a Filipina migrant known as Ate Michelle was released after months of support with the Tanggol Migrante network in Washington state. 

Trump’s imposition of tariffs to pursue his “America First” trade policy on all foreign imports has not only created a tariff war, especially with China, but has also had major impacts on the working people of the world. These bullying tactics to create a tariff war are not a sign of strength but of deep desperation to try to revive a prolonged period of stagnation of the global economy. The US is still the largest economy in the world and uses its domination to arm-twist other capitalist countries to bow down to its hegemony, while the poorer countries, especially in the developing countries and semi-colonies, give up their wealth and resources to US imperialist domination and control.

To maintain such hegemony, the US displays its military might and uses aggressive defense strategies for its proxy wars, which are spawning an ever-escalating crisis around the world. US imperialism, together with its western imperialist allies, has destabilized entire regions and countries, creating a situation for more violence and war, and women bear the brunt of this war crisis. 

In Sudan, the 2-year civil war in Sudan due to competing interests over the country’s natural resources resulted in the world's most devastating humanitarian crisis, where more than 10 million Sudanese people have been displaced, more than half being women and a quarter being children under five years of age. More than 70% of those displaced are at risk of famine. 

In Gaza, the US continues to fund the Zionist entity to commit all-out genocide on the Palestinian people, nearly 70% of those killed being women. In India, indigenous Adivasi lands are increasingly under attack by the fascist Modi government bulldozing its way for mining operations, while the Adivasi women suffer from physical and sexual abuse. In Colombia, the Antioquia province is rich with gold, which has impacted the rural Afro-Colombian women, who continue to fight on the front lines against state-sanctioned land grabs.

There are many victories to celebrate, despite the gravity of the crisis. Women must link arms together with all working and oppressed people to turn our fear into a collective fight for the liberation of all. The people are outraged and are not sitting idly by. Workers are striking and winning their demands for better wages and working conditions, like the Nexperia workers in the Philippines and the Audi workers in Mexico. Multiple-day strikes for Starbucks and Amazon workers continue to face off with these corporate giants to fight for better working conditions.

Women continue to fight on the front lines, defending their ancestral lands and livelihoods while being confronted with ongoing sexual and physical violence in their communities. As imperialist war rages on in Europe and in West Asia, and the world social order is on the brink of collapse, the people of the world continue to find inspiration in the relentless fight to win their liberation. From Gaza to Kobane, Sudan to Bogotá, women are fighting back for a better world. 

We draw inspiration as we commemorate 50 years of the end of the war in Vietnam, where women fighters took up arms to defend their homeland against US imperialism. Let us continue the legacy of those women before us who have given their lives to advance the rights of women and all oppressed people. Salute to all workers of the world! Further advance the struggle for working women!