THIS May Day I have never felt more proud of the trade-union movement and the working people we represent. 

It seems the whole country is beginning to learn the true value of labour. And demanding to know why some of the most important jobs in society are paid the least.

Health and social-care teams putting their health on the line to protect ours. Workers keeping the country going with food, deliveries and essential infrastructure like broadband and energy. And all those battling inequality and prejudice to do their jobs, like BAME workers who are at greater risk from the virus and those at the sharp end of oppression like our trans sisters and brothers.

Today we can’t get out on our usual marches and rallies. But the TUC is leading a day of action to recognise and celebrate workers online. 

Please show your solidarity this May Day by sharing a short video thanking a worker who’s made a difference to you. And then spread the solidarity by nominating three others to thank a worker in their own clips. Tag them in your post and use the hashtags #MayDay and #ThankAWorker.

For my video I chose to thank a teacher, Mr Stokes. But there are countless other workers I’m grateful to. You could choose your postie, a supermarket worker, someone in the NHS, a delivery driver, refuse collector or any other front-line worker.

Millions across Britain are joining the clap for our carers every Thursday night. People putting themselves at risk to care for us need our support. But thanks alone are not enough.

We need action from this government to reward our NHS and minimum-wage heroes. 

Ministers and bosses must act now on pay and conditions to give a proper boost to all working families. 

That means giving a fair pay rise to workers in our public services and right across the economy.  

One that gives back what workers have lost after 10 years of cuts, and it means raising the national minimum wage to £10 an hour now.

It also means increasing sick pay to the real living wage and making sure everyone can get it from day one. And it means sorting out the insecurity that blights working lives — banning zero-hours contracts and false self-employment and bringing outsourced staff back into the public-service family. 

And we demand that after this crisis there is no return to business as usual. No return to austerity and the cuts that decimated our public services and made it harder to fight off this virus. No return to unsafe workplaces and endemic low pay. No return to corporate tax cuts and welfare for the well-off that fuels inequality. No return to discrimination and divisive rhetoric that pits working people against each other and penalises women, trans people, migrants, and black and Muslim workers.   

Our values are about common purpose, compassion, solidarity and the hope of a world where everyone lives and works in dignity.

Here in the UK we need a new deal for working people, with full employment, decent wages, fair conditions and a strong safety net. 

And across the world we need to match a global pandemic, travelling fast across borders, with a global response rooted in social justice and international solidarity.  

The poorest countries will be hit hardest by this virus so we need a global fund for universal social protection to support healthcare and income support as called for by the international trade-union movement.

Coronavirus has exposed class lines in our society — and put the spotlight on who really keeps this country going. 

On May Day let’s organise together, demand an economy that works for everyone and stand up for workers everywhere.  

Frances O’Grady is general secretary of the TUC.