http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/01-05-2008/105055-internationallabourday-0
01.05.2008
Brief History of International Labour Day
We trace a brief outline of the history of International Labour Day from the
Pagan fertility festival - Beltane - to the Roman festival Floralia, to the
fight for an 8-hour working day in the United States of America at the end of
the 19th century - where International Labour Day has its roots, to the
internationalization of the movement. Curiously, the USA is one of the few
countries which does not have a public holiday on May 1st.
Beltane, Festival of Light
Beltane (Bealtaine or Cetsamhain) is the name given to the Festival of Light
celebrated by the British Celts, welcoming the death of Winter and the birth of
Spring, celebrated at the beginning of May. It is a fertility festival,
symbolizing the union between male and female forces and it was celebrated by
lighting a new fire, meaning new life. Cattle passed through the fire or the
smoke and young couples jumped over the flames so as to be protected with the
new life.
Floralia
The beginning of May was also an important fertility festival for the Romans.
They celebrated the Festival of Flora, Goddess of Flowers. The celebration of
Flora was called Floralia, which lasted from 28th April to 2nd May. During the
Middle Ages all over Europe, this time was celebrated with singing and dancing.
People went to the forests to cut down a tree, to form a Maypole. This served
as a focal point for village festivities.
May Celebrations in the New World
These European celebrations at the beginning of May, celebrating the beginning
of the agricultural calendar (sowing and planting) crossed the Atlantic and
although such celebrations were repressed by the Puritans, they survived in the
New World.
How was International Labour Day born?
And it was in the USA that the labour movement was born, which would choose
this day to focus its demands. The embrionic workers' associations and unions
organized themselves during the 19th century and began to fight against
deplorable working conditions - a working day of between 8 and 10 hours and in
many cases in conditions of extreme discomfort and/or danger. In some
industries, the life expectancy did not reach 25 years of age!
The unions/associations formed the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor
Unions - FOTLU (November 1881), later the American Labour Federation, which at
its National Convention in Chicago in 1884, proclaimed that after 1st May 1886,
the working day should be 8 hours. FOTLU announced a series of actions and
strikes to apply pressure on the authorities to force them to implement the new
working regime. Meanwhile the labour movement was brutally repressed by the
Pinkerton security agents and the police.
When the day arrived, 1st May 1886, around 300,000 workers in 13,000 firms
started to strike. Chicago was the epicentre of the labour movement and names
such as Louis Lingg, Johann Most, Albert Parsons and August Spies will forever
be linked with May 1st. The strikes and the revolutionary atmosphere created by
the various factions linked to the labour movement continued during 2nd and 3rd
May, but always in a climate of peace. However, everything would change the
following day.
Haymarket Massacre
Due to the increasing brutality by the authorities against the peaceful labour
movement, the workers decided to organise a public conference in Haymarket
Square, Chicago, on May 4th. The main speaker, August Spies, addressed the
crowd of workers and their families, including many children. Eye witnesses,
which included the Mayor of Chicago, declared that his speech did not incite
violence.
However, the police force decided to charge and attack the crowd; someone (and
it is not clear whether it was a worker of an agent provocateur connected to
the authorities, threw a bomb at the police and these responded by firing into
the crowd.
Eight anarchist leaders were arrested and accused of instigating violence and
the jury (chosen from among the corporate elitists) found them guity in one of
the most blatant travesties of justice in history. Four were hanged, one
committed suicide in his cell the night before the hanging in November 1887.
The other three were pardoned six years later.
The day was never adopted as a public holiday in the USA but the workers'
movement and its claims echoed far and wide, reaching the four corners of the
world, where May 1st started to become the focal point for demonstrations in
favour of workers' rights. International Socialist proclaimed the date
International Labour Day in 1889.
In 1890, May Day demonstrations were generalised and worldwide, from the USA
and Canada, to Brazil, Cuba, Peru, Chile, and across Europe from Ireland to
Russia.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
