Why is Labor Day celebrated on May 1?

This Sunday, May 1is he International Workers’ Day. Day that commemorates the labor movement. Their origin dates back tolate 19th centurymoment in which the United States labor movements took center stage. They demanded the end of the long hours from among 12 and 18 hours of work to which the workers of the great North American factories were subjected.

Despite attempts to reduce working hoursemployers continued to demand long working hours, which ended in the Chicago Proletarian Strike of May 1, 1886. A) Yes, the Second Internationalan association formed in 1889 by the Socialist and Labor parties, declared this date as International Workers’ Day to support “the legal establishment of the eight-hour working day, for the demands of the proletariat and universal peace”, according to the communist literary and political critic Anatoly Lunacharsky in his diary and mentions School 25 ‘Paula Albarracín de Sarmiento’ on his website.

The origin of International Workers’ Day

The harsh conditions to which the workers were subjected to late nineteenth century propitiated the Strengthening the American labor movementwhich was also fed by news in which it was assured that in other countries the workers were making important advances.

Against the long working hours, the workers demanded “eight hours of work, eight hours of leisure and eight hours of rest”the famous phrase that went viral from the labor movements.

Over time, despite the fact that reaching an agreement with the businessmen was an impossible mission, the working class efforts they managed to changeto the attitude of the Government. in 1868Andrew Johnson promoted the Ingersoll Lawthe first law that “established an eight-hour day for employees of federal offices and for those who worked in public works,” according to the history archives of the UGT union portal.

But the law did not mention the industry workers, who had to comply with their 11 and 12 hour shift. Besides, the owners of companies they kept rejecting this new law and some states promoted the pertinent laws to establish sanctions for those who did not comply. Even so, clauses were dictated in which in some cases it was allowed to extend the day to 12 or 18 hours.

Different sectors demonstrated, since there was no end to the terrible working conditions which they faced. Finally, the resistance of the businessmen led to the great strike of 1886.

Strike of May 1, 1886 in Chicago

Tired of the situation, on May 1 more than 5,000 factories in the United States were paralyzed Y 340,000 workers took to the streets to demonstrate for some decent working conditionsaccording to the UGT on its website.

In Chicagothe second most populous city in the country at that time and in which 13 and 14 hours of work were required, 307 demonstrations in which they were incorporated 88,000 proletariansas confirmed by the website of the Encyclopedia of Chicago.

Conflicts quickly arose between the ‘scabs‘ of the McCormick company that continued with its production and workers. The following days, meetings continued to be called, which tended to be violent and that “culminated in the Haymarket Square massacre” on May 4, according to the DGT on its website.

Several leading figures of trade union movement attended this demonstration. Seven people died when 180 police arrived to disperse the crowd and a person who has never been identified detonated a explosive device.

The police response to this explosion killed eight other protesters and among 30 and 40 civilians injured, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica website. A police investigation concluded the following day that the attack was carried out by anarchists and 31 people were arrested accused of provoking the protests.

Labor Day Today

labor day keep defending the labor rights, although not all countries celebrate it on May 1. In the United States and Canada, September 1 is “Labor Day”; in Australia, each federal state has a different date; In New Zealand, it is celebrated on the fourth Monday in October. There is no exact date to celebrate Labor Day neither in Denmark nor in the Netherlands.

The Chicago strikes of 1886 laid the foundations for which it is celebrated labor day in Spain and in many countries, but not in North American countries. Why does the United States celebrate it in September?

One of the theories is due to anti-union movement which was created after the clashes in the great chicago strike and which Howard Zinn talks about in his book ‘A People’s History of the United States’. These movements associated May 1 with the extreme left.

Thus, in 1887, President Grover Cleveland declared Labor Day in September an official holiday, “to prevent May 1 from serving as a glorification” as can be seen in an article updated in 2017 on the BBC website.