Happy May Day, comrades!
May Day in America, also known as International Workers Day, traces its origins back to the 1886 Haymarket Square labor demonstration in support of workers striking for an 8-hour workday. As police were attempting to disperse the peaceful assembly, an unknown individual threw a bomb into the crowd, resulting in the police firing on demonstrators.
Eight demonstrators were charged as accessories to murder and subject to a farcical trial, where a biased jury convicted them on evidence that ranged from flimsy to fabricated, and a biased judge sentenced seven of the defendants to death, with the eighth being sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Of the seven sentenced to death, four were executed and one took his own life before his execution could be carried out. The remaining defendants were eventually pardoned, but the grievous miscarriage of justice had a profound impact on the labor movement.
Today, we remember the courageous sacrifices of labor organizers struggling for better working conditions, knowing that we cannot take for granted the hard-fought victories of the labor movement. Only by leveraging their collective power can workers secure these gains and determine for themselves the conditions under which they work.
Art by Ricardo Levins Morales