Why May 1 must be celebrated
The United States has the bloodiest history of labor of any
industrialized nation on Earth. It is a story rich in human drama and
tragedy. It is also one of progress and hope.
The battle for the eight-hour work day was one of the longest and most
difficult in American labor history. The fact that it is now taken for
granted and its tragic history buried is a terrible loss.
In 1884, a group of union leaders and radical activists declared that by
May 1, 1886 eight hours was to be considered a legal work day. The
resolution gained support among workers as many were forced to work 12-
and sometimes 16-hour days. Tens of thousands of workers across the
nation walked out that day protesting for the eight-hour day. The
workers at the McCormick Reaper plant outside of Chicago were among
them.
On May 3. Pinkerton guards (a private militia group hired by the
management) and police opened fire on the strikers at McCormick's plant.
Four were killed and many others wounded.
Labor leaders and other radical activists called a peaceful rally for
the next day near Haymarket Square in Chicago. After speeches by many
leaders of the movement, the day turned rainy and cold. The final
speaker was just finishing his speech when the police decided that the
crowd needed to disperse, although at this point most of the crowd had
already left.
Someone, it has never been determined who, threw a bomb into the group
of police. At this the police opened fire. They shot indiscriminately
killing and wounding many in the crowd, and very likely among the police
as well. It is in large part because of this that the actual number
killed and wounded by the bomb will never be known.
The Haymarket tragedy threw the police and the public into a frenzy.
What followed is a dark moment in the history of the U.S. justice
system.
The chief commissioner for the case fueled the public outcry by
falsifying reports of weapons seizures and staging raids on known
anarchist and labor leaders. They broke into the offices of the local
labor presses and destroyed their printing equipment. Eight labor
leaders and writers were charged with conspiracy to murder and
convicted. The prosecuting attorney at the trial said: "These men have
been selected, picked out by the grand jury and indicted because they
were leaders . . . Convict these men, make examples of them, hang them
and save our institutions." The men were not on trial, the labor
movement was.
While none of them had been present at the bombing (except one who was
on the speaker's podium), four of them were executed, one died in prison
(suicide), and three were later pardoned.
The police crackdown, the show trial, and the witch-hunt that followed
convinced labor leaders to declare May 1 an international workers' day.
May Day has been celebrated nationally and internationally since. But
the U.S.government felt threatened by the radical history of May Day,
and so it created Labor Day on Sept. 1, a day with no historical
significance.
Why celebrate May Day? May 1 is the only day to recognize the
international struggle for worker's rights. It is also a day rich in a
history that is all but forgotten today.
If we allow the struggles of the past to slip into oblivion we will be
destined to have to fight these battles again. We must remember the cost
in human lives and suffering that go into the rights that we consider so
basic and fundamental today.
SIMON LIVINGSTON
Savoy, April 21, 2004
4:41:47 PM 
Google It!
|
