By Donalda Cassel

As a member of the May Week Labour Arts Festival, I can say that the events planned for this year were both timely and ambitious. The Festival brought in Banner Theatre from Birmingham, England to perform "Free For All", a play about England’s assault on the National Health Service that parallels Alberta’s attack on Health Care. Performers from Banner Theatre and Lillian Allen were at the Legislature every night during the May Week Festival, participating in the demonstrations by Albertans to show the Tory Government that they did not want Health Care privatized. The political backdrop of demonstration and participation by Albertans paralleled the May Week Festival’s desire to bring back the labour movement’s struggle for worker’s rights and show the world that labour is strong.

The May Week Festival started off with the Day of Mourning on April 28 at City Hall and commemorated workers in Alberta that have been injured or killed at the workplace. Then on April 29, Banner Theatre performed their incisive play about the privatization of Health Care in England. Finishing up the weekend, was Juno Award winner, Lillian Allen signing books and reading poetry at Orlando’s Books. Later that night at the Labour Cabaret, the music of Lillian Allen and her band was complimented with local artists such as, Guy Smith, Robert Clinton and Notre Dame des Bananes,.

On May 1, the largest march in Edmonton that has seen for the last several years, featured trade unionists and labour activists, marching down Whyte Avenue from Tipton Park to the Gazebo located by the bus barns. Large puppets made by the Friends of Medicare, the Amalgamated Transit Union, CUPE Local 474 and members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees energized and galvanized the march. Further inspiration was provided by many other union banners carried by union members. After the march was finished, participates had their choice of venues to go to - the Y2K May Day Open Street Party, the cabaret Women Talk, or the Family Event.

The rest of the May Week Festival was highlighted by:

• May 2 - Memi Von Gaza, the resident artist with the Edmonton and District Labour Council, unveiled her sculpture honouring prairie women at Latitude 53 Gallery. Banner Theatre performed their powerful play once again
• May 3 - a panel discussed "Jobs and Sustainable Environment: Can We Have Both?".
• May 4 - labour song workshop, a highly successful get together of musicians to swap songs from England and North America.
• May 5 - the Zero Poverty Cabaret was marked by dynamic performers such as Marie Dunn. Other performers like Ground Zero Productions, read material by Isabelle Foord that expressed the need for the zero tolerance of poverty. That same night had Metro Cinema playing two films by Ken Loach, My Name is Joe and Raining Stones.
• May 6 - the International Peoples Human Rights Conference where there was a panel that discussed Organizing in the Face of Globalization. In the evening, Metro Cinema repeated showing Ken Loach’s films, My Name is Joe and Raining Stones and Labour Appreciation Night at the Mayfield Inn.
• May 7 - the final day of the festival, had labour union’s watch an exceptional baseball game at Telus Field. What a way to complete the festival - watching a baseball game.

As August Spies, one of the Haymarket martyr’s said - "One day - the day will come … when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today". The Year 2000 May Week Festival was a fabulous success and next year will be even better!