Remember the dead

They nursed us, they taught us, they policed us, they healed us, they emptied our bins, they served in our shops, they mended our pipes, they cleaned our offices, they drove our taxis, they waited on us, they built our homes, they answered our calls, they made our food, they stitched our clothes, they helped us travel, they cared for us, they packed our mail orders: they were our friends, our family, our comrades. They are no more.

Remember the dead

No masks, no hand gel, no plastic screens, no PPE, long hours, cramped factories, they worked to keep us safe, to keep us fed, to serve and to reach into the hearts of our city and the hearts of each one of us. Selfless sacrifice caused them to go to work each day, not knowing what they could bring home; others, were forced to work in dangerous spaces by bosses who hid behind the safety of their screens as they drove their profits and their workers ever harder, but failed to keep them safe. They are no more.

Remember the dead

When they were sick, they still had to work, no sick pay, no support, no protection, the threat of the sack awaited. And zero hours meant zero pay.

But where was their help? Where were those boss – protecting, paying, providing, policing. No they weren’t there. They are no more.

Remember the dead

It was too much, the mountain too high and the sea too deep, the loss too great, the mental pain too crushing, stripped of pride, work, money, home, health, others. The torture overbearing when all hope had gone. They are no more.

Remember the dead

But we who are left must fight for the living

We must educate.

This world is an unequal place. Where greed and want and must have are the rites of those who hold the power, the pen and the purse.

If we go it alone we will lose. We are their bait and their play. On our backs they build their riches, their privilege and might.

Trust me friends, we cannot play their game. They have shredded all order and torn up the rules. They have locked us out of our spaces and silenced our voices. They have built their networks and infiltrated ours.

Each day they are sucking our power and stamping on our rights. They are manipulating our minds, spinning the truth, marching on our ground and dominating our airways.

We must fight for the living

We must activate, unionise, petition and protest. We must tear down their walls, expose their corruption and call out their plots. As they seek to exploit each one of us, we must stand firm.

We have to graft. We have to engage. We have to build.

Once more we have to find the resource within us to push back, to stand out, to speak up; unrelenting in our purpose, resolute in our mission, united in our call.

We must fight for the living

We must organise.

Brothers and sisters, we must build our movement, with care and precision. We must understand the skills and talents that each one of us bring and weave them together as we labour to build the society where we all want to live and all want to work – one that is strong, that is safe, that is secure. Where equality is its standard and justice is its shield.

It is time to reach out and build our movement once more

As we remember the dead we will fight for the living.