May Day

In previous centuries, May 1, or May Day, was a springtime fertility festival that incorporated Maypoles, dances, and floral wreaths greeting spring. These May Day events date back thousands of years to when the Romans paid tribute to the goddess Flora with celebrations commencing on April 28 and lasting for days. In certain areas of the world, May Day remains a holiday of springtime play.

Nevertheless, since 1890, May Day has acquired another meaning that is distinct from its roots as a day devoted only to celebrating the rites of spring. Identified as International Workers' Day or International Labor Day, May 1 has been commemorated by workers, trade unions, anarchists, anarchosyndicalists, socialists, and communists in many nations for well over a century as a holiday marking the achievements and struggles of the labor movement.

May Day's origins are associated with the momentous struggle for the 8-hour workday in the United States. By 1866, the National Labor Union, along [Page 919]with hundreds of other organizations, advocated this limitation on work hours, which encouraged spirited debates among state lawmakers. Two years later, the U.S. Congress enacted an 8-hour law that pertained to laborers, mechanics, and other workers employed by the federal government; by 1870, at least six states had approved similar legislation.

One of the first states to pass such a law was Illinois, on March 1, 1867, with its implementation to occur 2 months later. The legislation's loopholes prompted Chicago unions to conduct a parade on May 1, 1867, insisting that all employers firmly abide by the 8-hour workday. Approximately 6,000 to 10,000 workers marched, with floats and bands organized in what the Chicago Times referred to as the largest demonstration ever appearing on Chicago's streets.

In order to force employer compliance with the law, the following day Chicago workers conducted strikes at such work sites as machine shops, packinghouses, and lumberyards, causing the city to shut down almost completely. These strikes eventually collapsed, resulting in the lack of enforcement of Illinois's 8-hour law.

In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions backed a proposal by George Edmonston, a Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners leader, requesting that unions organize strikes on May 1, 1886, as a way to achieve the 8-hour workday. Various labor historians argue that Edmonston selected May 1 for conducting these strikes as a tribute to the Chicago workers' actions in May 1867.

On May 1, 1886, nearly half a million workers struck in many of the nation's cities. Conceivably the day's most momentous events occurred in Chicago, with 90,000 workers occupying the streets. Regarded as the first May Day parade in the world, 80,000 demonstrators strode down Michigan Avenue.

Chicago's most noteworthy strike in early May 1886 was the work stoppage at the McCormick Harvester plant. At a May 3 demonstration in front of this facility, police fired into the gathering, killing four and wounding many of those present. A meeting was arranged for May 4 at Haymarket Square for the purpose of protesting police violence. During the speeches, a bomb detonated in front of the policemen, resulting in one immediate casualty (though six officers died later) and numerous police injuries. In response, the police shot into the crowd, wounding many present and killing at least one demonstrator.

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