No one should work on May 1 because the fight for workers' rights is important. But sometimes everyday life gets in the way.

DGB demonstration in Hamburg under the motto More pay, more free time, more security Photo: Moritz Schlenk/imago

May 1st is a bit like New Year's Eve. Something happens everywhere, there are celebrations here, demonstrations there, some things overlap, so you always miss something because you are everywhere and nowhere. It's almost a relief to have to work on Labor Day (and therefore live up to the holiday's name), so the question of whether it is or not doesn't even arise. Although on one of the first summer days of the year it seems a little surreal to be sitting in the office under artificial light while everyone else is sunbathing. And at the same time let the day of struggle of the working class pass, when there is no hard work.

But what would we know about any fight if there was no one to report on it? And it is also a question whether journalism can be considered hard work. But that's just by the way.

Let's get back to this week's fights. In the United States people don't take workers' rights that seriously. That's why people take to the streets on May 1, but only at the end of the day. That's why Harvey Weinstein was summoned to court on Wednesday. The former television mogul's New York rape conviction was overturned in late April due to procedural errors. Weinstein represents like no other the Hollywood system in which men use their power to inflict sexual violence on women. The annulment of the sentence is therefore an affront to the victims of the 72-year-old woman, but also to all other women in the film industry and around the world, for whom Weinstein is just one among many.

But the #metoo movement was not abolished. Women continue to tell their stories, they continue to go to court. But you have to listen to them there. And politics and the judiciary must find ways to convict perpetrators like Weinstein and make irrefutable judgments.

No permanent address, often imprisoned

It's a cliché to say that you catch the little ones and let the big ones go. But it can also be called popular wisdom, of which Ronen Steinke found enough examples in his book “Not everyone is equal before the law.” Our legal system provides that penalties are evaluated not only based on the crime, but also on the circumstances. Those with a permanent residence, a job, and a family are not as likely to be incarcerated as someone who lives on the streets and has no income. If you have money, you can also afford legal representation of your choice. The poor depend on a mandatory defense or have to appear alone in court.

“In Europe, people are increasingly criminalized and punished for minor crimes,” says a statement from the new “Minor crimes, serious punishments” campaign, launched by a group of European NGOs this week. The criminalization and punishment of misdemeanors “disproportionately targets people from racialized communities, people living in poverty, and other marginalized groups.” With this campaign, NGOs, including the German Justice Collective, are calling on the EU to guarantee the right to a lawyer even in cases of minor crimes.

The fear continues

Unfortunately, the transition to another battlefield that will determine this week is becoming a bit bumpy: negotiations for a Middle East arms deal. Every day we waited for the outcome of the talks in Cairo. We would have liked to report that all Israeli hostages held by the Hamas terrorist group will be released and the fighting will stop. But the negotiations only provided for the release of up to 40 hostages; It is not known how many of the 135 hostages who have not yet been released are still alive.

And although earlier in the week there were high hopes that the talks in Cairo would reach a conclusion, on Friday it appeared that Hamas wanted to reject the agreement. The fear continues.