On May 1 we observe May Day, aka International Workers’ Day. The U.S.A. and Canada observe Labour Day in September, but May 1 is the world’s Labour Day — by and for the international working class.
How Labour Day Began
The eight-hour workday, now a staple of how we regulate labour relations, was a goal for organized workers in the late 19th century trying to address rampant exploitation in workplaces and in society.
May 1, 1886, was the date chosen for a general strike in support of the demand. Tens of thousands took to the streets of Chicago, as did many more in other cities across the U.S.A. It was a broad, organized, enduring strategy to mobilize the American working class.
Employers and the state reacted forcefully.
Haymarket affair
On May 3, workers and allies rallied peacefully at a McCormick Harvesting Machine Company plant. Strike-breakers gathered at the plant gates and met workers there at the end of the day. Police fired on the crowd, then violence escalated.
On May 4 in Haymarket Square, thousands gathered to commemorate the martyrs, to condemn the police and strike breakers’ actions, and to demonstrate continued commitment to labour’s demands. In the late evening, police marched on the gathering, trying to disperse the crowd. This provoked deadly violence. A bomb was thrown and gunfire broke out, killing at least eleven and wounding dozens.
Authorities blamed anarchists and trade unionists in an attempt to use the tragedy to set back the movement. But labour persisted and eventually won the eight-hour workday that so many of us now take for granted.
Pay it forward
We can think of some of today’s struggles in this larger context. It has been more than a century and together we have transformed worker rights, working conditions, our standard of living, and society. We still have big goals to achieve. May Day reminds us that though sometimes the price is high, our struggle is worthy, and future workers will be grateful — as we should be thankful today for the eight-hour workday and other major gains.
We march on May 1 in the hope that we can achieve these demands without any workers paying the ultimate price. We also commemorate those who did, and we remember that our collective power is the power that will make positive change.
