Why is Labor Day celebrated on May 1st?
In 1886, American workers were executed after carrying out a series of strikes demanding better working conditions.
May 1st of each year is celebrated as International Workers' Day in honour of the "Chicago Martyrs", named after a group of anarchist trade unionists who were executed in 1886 in the United States for making a labour claim. The workers demanded the reduction of the working day to 8 hours, since they used to work up to 16 hours a day. Under pressure from strikes, the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, enacted a law establishing an 8-hour work day. However, the business sector decided not to comply, so the workers of the industrial city of Chicago began a strike on May 1st.
A movement led by Albert Parsons brought together more than 80,000 workers. It was described as “outrageous and disrespectful” and as “the delirium of unpatriotic lunatics.” For those who criticized it, the demand was “the same as asking for a salary without putting in any hours of work.”
The conflict spread to other cities and ended up with more than 400,000 workers stopping work in 5,000 simultaneous strikes. Both the government and the business sector believed that they were witnessing the beginning of an anarchist revolution.
Two days later, on May 3, police fired on striking workers at the massive McCormick Reaper Works factory, killing six. More workers died over the next few days, until May 4. A bomb exploded against the police forces, an event known as “the Haymarket bombing”.
No one knew who threw the bomb, but chaos broke out when police began firing into the crowd. Authorities arrested seven men in the days following the Haymarket events. Parsons escaped arrest and traveled to Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he remained until June 21, when he turned himself in to show solidarity with his comrades. Witnesses testified that none of the eight threw the bomb. However, all were found guilty, and only one of them, Oscar Neebe, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while the others were sentenced to death. These eight people became the Chicago Martyrs, and May 1 was declared International Workers' Day in their commemoration.
Today, many countries commemorate May Day as the origin of the modern labour movement. Although there are some that do not – generally countries of British colonisation – such as the United States and Canada, which celebrate May Day Labor Day (Labor Day) the first Monday in September; New Zealand, the fourth Monday in October.
In Australia, each federal state decides the date of celebration: the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia; the second Monday in March in Victoria and Tasmania; the first Monday in March in Western Australia; and May 1 in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Related Articles
