International Workers Day May 1st and The Haymarket Chicago

SPECIAL RADIO SHOW Thursday May 1 , 2025 at 8 AM Alaska Time. Listen live on102.7fm, or 103.1fm. or https://www.ktoo.org/listen/krnn/

In 1889 an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May 1 as a day in support of workers, in commemoration of the Haymarket Riotin Chicago (1886). Five years later, U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland, uneasy with the socialist origins of Workers’ Day, signed legislation to make Labor Day—already held in some states on the first Monday of September—the official U.S. holiday in honour of workers. Canada followed suit not long afterward.

AUDIO FILE – Fanfare For The Common Man / Haymarket Narrative – Music Credit Emerson, Lake and Palmer

AUDIO FLE: Power In The Union / Haymarket #2 – Music Credit Billy Bragg

In Europe May 1 was historically associated with rural pagan festivals but the original meaning of the day was gradually replaced by the modern association with the labour movement. In the Soviet Union, leaders embraced the new holiday, believing it would encourage workers in Europe and the United States to unite against capitalism. The day became a significant holiday in the Soviet Union and in the Eastern-bloc countries, with high-profile parades, including one in Moscow’s Red Square presided over by top government and Communist Party functionaries, celebrating the worker and showcasing Soviet military might. In Germany Labour Day became an official holiday in 1933 after the rise of the Nazi Party. Ironically, Germany abolished free unions the day after establishing the holiday, virtually destroying the German labour movement.

With the breakup of the Soviet Union and the fall of communist governments in eastern Europe in the late 20th century, large-scale May Day celebrations in that region declined in importance. In dozens of countries around the world, however, May Day has been recognized as a public holiday, and it continues to be celebrated with picnics and parties while serving as the occasion for demonstrations and rallies in support of workers

It is a day meant to both celebrate and appreciate the contributions of the working class to society as a whole, and a reminder of the workers and union leaders who sacrificed their lives to improve working conditions for all and inspired countless others to do the same. The eight-hour workday, child labor laws, safe working conditions, and other rights workers are now entitled to, such as lunch breaks, maternity leave, paid time off, and Workman’s Comp are all the result of decades of organized labor strikes, work stoppages, demonstrations, and protests carried out by the working class all over the world.

Many demonstrations took place at the height of the Industrial Revolution, when work conditions were abysmal and oftentimes downright dangerous. A worker was expected to spend all of their waking hours working, from sun up to sun down, with very little time to eat or relieve themselves.

Wage slavery and worker exploitation was all too common, but with essentially no other employment options, there was nothing individual workers could do to change their situation. Thousands of men, women, and children were needlessly dying every year due to these inhumane conditions coupled with ten to sixteen hour work days. 

On May 1st, 1886, historians estimate that anywhere from 300,000 to half a million US workers went on strike nationwide, with over 40,000 people protesting in Chicago alone. The protests in Chicago were largely peaceful and remained organized until May 3rd, when an altercation between striking workers and strikebreakers prompted police to open fire, killing at least one person and injuring other workers.

The next day, as police began to disperse workers protesting at Haymarket Square, an unidentified assailant threw a dynamite bomb into the crowd—killing 7 officers and at least 4 protesters. 60 officers and over 100 protesters were injured in addition to those casualties. This event came to be known as the Haymarket Affair or Haymarket Riots, and it played a crucial role in the furthering of the labor reform movement internationally.

SOURCE: Britannica Enc