The history behind the memorialMayday - World Scout May 1 Labor Day

Each dated May 1, the workers from around the world commemorate the great event that is a demonstration of the workers in the United States in 1886, which demanded the implementation of eight hours of work. This claim relates to the moment when the workers were forced to work for 12 to 16 hours per day. The first strike of the working class of the United States occurred in 1806 by workers Cordwainers. The strike was bringing to the table the organization court and also raised the fact that the working class in that era worked from 19 to 20 hours a day. Since then, the struggle to demand director hours of work into a shared agenda of the working class in the United States. Two people were deemed to have contributed an idea to honor the workers, Peter McGuire and Matthew Maguire, a machine worker from Paterson, New Jersey. In 1872, McGuire and 100,000 workers strike to demand abatement working hours. McGuire then went on to speak with the workers and the unemployed, lobbied city government to provide jobs and overtime pay. McGuire became known as "intruders calm the people."

In 1881, McGuire moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and began to organize carpenters. Finally established a unity consisting of a carpenter in Chicago, with McGuire as Secretary General of "United Brotherhood of Carpenters and joiners of America." Ideas for organizing workers according to their expertise and then spread to the entire country. McGuire and workers in other cities are planning a holiday for workers in every first Monday in September between Independence Day and Thanksgiving day.

On September 5, 1882, the first Labor Day parade was held in New York City with 20,000 participants carrying banners that read eight hours of work, eight hours rest, eight hours recreation. Maguire and McGuire played a key role in organizing this parade. In subsequent years, this idea spread, and all states celebrated it.
In 1887, Oregon became the first state to make it a public holiday. In 1894. Presider Grover Cleveland signed a law that made the first week of September the official national public holidays.
First International Congress was held in September 1866 in Geneva, Switzerland, attended by various elements of workers' organizations around the world. Congress establishes a demand to reduce working hours to eight hours a day, the previous (still in the same year) has made the National Labor Union in the U.S.: As these constraints represent the general demands of the United States working class, the changing demands of the congress has become common ground the working class worldwide.

One may set as the day the world working class struggle in Congress in 1886 by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions for, besides giving the moment demands eight hours a day, giving a new spirit of working class struggle that reached a massive in that era. Date of May 1 was chosen because in 1884 the Federation of
Organized Trades and Labor Unions, inspired by the success of labor action in Canada in 1872 [1], requires eight hours of work in the United States and enforced starting May 1, 1886.

Haymarket EVENTS
On May 1, 1886, approximately 400,000 workers in the United States held a huge demonstration to demand the reduction of their working hours to eight hours a day. This action lasted for four days from the date of 1 May.

Large demonstrations that took place since April 1886 was initially supported by around 250 thousand workers. Within two weeks of growing to around 350 thousand workers. City of Chicago is the heart of the movement followed by about 90 thousand workers. In New York, the same demonstration was attended by some 10 thousand workers in Detroit followed by 11 thousand workers. Demonstrations also spread to various cities such as Louisville and Baltimore demonstration to unite white and black workers.

Up to date May 1, 1886, the demonstrations spread from Maine to Texas, and from New Jersey to Alabama, followed by half a million workers in the country. These developments are also great fishing reactions from the business and local government officials at that time. Through Chicago's Commercial Club, expend about U.S. $ 2,000 to purchase equipment to deal with a machine gun demonstration.

Peaceful demonstrations demanding that any reduction in working hours and ended with riot victims. Around 180 police confronting demonstrations and ordered the demonstrators disperse. A bomb exploded near the cordon. The police had to shoot blind ****- demonstrating workers. As a result the victim fell from the labor party on May 3, 1886, four workers were killed and dozens others injured. With allegations of involvement in the bombing of eight labor activists were arrested and imprisoned. As a result of this action, the police apply the prohibition against any demonstrations. But the workers do not just give up and in 1888 returned to action with the same demands. In addition, it also decided to re-do a demonstration on May 1, 1890.

In July 1889, the World Socialist Congress held in Paris set the events in the U.S. on May 1st as a day laborer and the world passed a resolution containing:

A large international action should be organized0on one particular day in which all countries and cities at the same time, one day at a mutually agreed upon, all the workers demanded that the government legally reduce working hours to eight hours per day, and perform all of the results Congress International Labour France.

This resolution received a warm reception from many countries and since the year 1890, dated May 1, termed the May Day, celebrated by the workers in various countries, despite pressure
from their government.

Category: History