Left after Breakfast

Archive for the ‘History’ Category

Workers in my city, Melbourne Australia, won the eight hour day in 1856. It was a hard and bloody battle, and a hundred years later, my great grandmother spoke with pride of her father’s involvement.

It was a victory that inspired workers around the world. .. and in USA lead to the campaign in Chicago in 1886 which resulted in the State murder of the Haymarket Martyrs.

In USA
During the 1880s a new movement calling for an eight-hour day inspired both unions and unorganised workers. At its 1884 convention, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions adopted a resolution stating that beginning May 1, 1886, “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s work” and workers would strike at companies that did not recognise the eight-hour day.

By April 1886, a quarter of a million workers had committed themselves to go on strike as part of the May Day movement. This enabled thousands of workers to win shorter shifts. Most employers, however, refused to reduce working hours.

By May 1 some 200,000 workers were on strike. An additional 340,000 workers in the industrial cities of Boston, New York, Milwaukee, Chicago and Pittsburgh, turned out for local parades and rallies.

One of the most militant campaigns occurred in Chicago. The syndicalist International Working People’s Association—promoting equal rights and an end to racism and the class system—had successfully organised huge numbers of workers, building a movement that included African-Americans, immigrants, and women standing together with white men.

Largely because of these efforts, 50,000 workers went on strike, with tens of thousands attending the May Day parade. The IWPA’s successful broad-based appeal worried businesses and the government alike. This fear resulted in the expansion of both the police and the militias.

May Day 1886
On May Day, Albert Parsons, along with Albert Spies, spoke to a huge crowd assembled as part of the May Day activities. Parsons was a member of both the Knights of Labor and the Chicago Central Labor Union and Spies was the editor of the German workers’ paper Die Arbeiter-Zeitung.

Despite the city leaders’ expectations of violence (which led to a heavy police presence), the rally ended without incident.

Two days later, Spies spoke to a meeting of 6,000 workers. Among the workers were striking lumber workers and employees from the McCormick Harvester Works. Cyrus McCormick, a determined union-buster had locked his workers out as a result of their strike of 2 ½ months. Scabs became the focus of heckling by other meeting participants, which created a chaotic atmosphere. Then, in a classic case of overreaction, police fired into the crowd and killed at least two men while wounding many more.

Appalled by the police violence, Spies called for a massive rally the next day in Haymarket Square. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people attended the May 4 rally. Parsons gave an hour-long speech that was relatively tame. He specifically stated, “I am not here for the purpose of inciting anybody.”

Chicago Mayor Harrison, who had attended most of the meeting, stopped by the police station on his way home. He reported to Police Captain Bonfield that “nothing looked likely to require police interference.” Despite this advice the captain, who regularly employed Pinkerton detectives and supported “shoot to kill” policies when dealing with strikers, sent additional officers to the square.

The Riot
After hours of speeches, people had begun to leave, when Samuel Fielden, a Methodist preacher and the final speaker, took the podium. Concluding his speech, he encouraged workers to stand up to the law, which did not protect them, urging them to “kill it, stab it . . . to impede its progress.” The police considered this “inflammatory language” and 200 police officers ordered the remaining crowd to disperse immediately. As Fielden argued with the police of the peaceful intent of the meeting, someone threw a dynamite bomb at the police. One sergeant was killed immediately. The police then opened fire at the crowd. Estimates indicated that seven or eight civilians were killed. Several policemen and additional civilians died later.

Following the event, hysteria swept the city. Mayor Harrison declared martial law. Many believed the bomb had been thrown by an agent provocateur. Indeed, it served nicely as an excuse for the police to harass and attack scores of people. Hundreds were arrested. State Attorney for Cook County J. Grinnell announced in a public statement, “Make the raids first and look up the law afterwards.” Labor unions were broken up. Picketing strikers were arrested and the police continued to beat labour supporters.

In conjunction with the bombing, the state arrested and indicted eight anarchists: Spies, Michael Schwab, Fielden, Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Louis Lingg and Oscar Neebe.

All were charged with conspiracy to murder, despite the fact that only three had been present at the Haymarket meeting. For their trial, a special bailiff was appointed to pick the jury. He stated, “These fellows are going to be hanged as certain as death.” During the trial in June 1886, the state could not provide evidence that any of the men had knowledge of the bomb or that they had incited or participated in the violence.

Dangerous Ideas
But it wasn’t the men so much as their ideas that were considered dangerous. As Grinnell stated in his summation:

“Law is on trial. Anarchy is on trial. These men have been selected, picked out by the grand jury and indicted because they were leaders. They are no more guilty than the thousands who follow them. Gentlemen of the jury: convict these men, make examples of them, hang them and you save our institutions, our society.”

As a result of the trial, all but one of the men received death sentences (Neebe received 15 years). Despite international outcry, Spies, Parsons, Fischer, and Engel were hanged on November 11, 1887; Lingg escaped by committing suicide. Hundreds of thousands of people joined the funeral procession for the executed men.

Later, in 1893, when newly elected, Governor Altgeld granted pardons to Neebe, Schwab, and Fielden, he admitted that the trial had been unfair and that the men had always been innocent of the crimes.

After Haymarket, workers all over the world pointed towards May 1 as their day. After 1886 rallies, strikes and other militant actions promoted the cause of the working class around the world.

Unfortunately, a conservative element within U.S. organised labor movement, combined with the crushing government repression of left politics, allowed the significance of the day to become lost in the United States.

As early as 1894, President Cleveland signed a bill naming not May 1 but the first Monday in September as “Labor Day.” This creatively sidestepped the day with more historical significance. Adding further insult, President Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 as “Law Day” in 1958.

Lest we Forget …
We must never forget what happened at Haymarket, lest we give reactionary forces the opportunity to revoke what we have gained. In 1886 the movement was strong and visible. It was the state that provoked crowds into violence in order to create an excuse to undermine the progress of the working class. We cannot allow the government to frighten us back into silence.

Instead we must follow the examples set by Parsons, Spies, Fischer and Engel, and all the others who have died or been imprisoned by the state.

The events of May Day 1886 remind us that workers will continue to be exploited until we stand up and oppose that exploitation. It’s only with organisation and the courage to speak out against injustice that we will gain better conditions, fair pay, and better lives.