From the distant months of April and May 1886 comes the vindication of the working class. In the McCormick factory in Chicago, in the United States, a group of union workers decided to march to put an end to the bloody exploitation of which they were victims.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Chicago Martyrs May 1st Justice, for them, had a high price. The bloody repression to which they were subjected cost the lives of five of them. They were anarchists and are known as the Chicago Martyrs. They demanded an eight-hour day. From Monday to Monday, they were paid a derisory salary and worked 16 hours.
It was an unprecedented event in the history of that country and of the trade union movement. For these eight workers, other rights seemed vital: banning child labor, increasing labor remuneration, recognizing union organizations, and valuing the performance of women.
They went on strike, but they were not exactly the managers. In the State of Illinois, an extremely important industrial center, working conditions were deplorable and the workers were looking for a legal limit to this situation. This was not the first strike.
That first of May of 1886 was the pedestal for the victory and the tribute that to this day moves workers in most countries of the world, except for some in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. In the United States and Canada, it is celebrated on different dates to dissociate it from its socialist meaning.
Under the slogan "Eight hours of work, eight hours of rest and eight for recreation", in U.S. cities a big strike was organized and some 80 thousand workers joined to claim they are just proclamations. In Chicago it was extraordinary. The police attacked the march with bullets that day and the following days.
After several days of conflict, a peaceful rally was cruelly suppressed. As the participants dispersed, a bomb exploded where the repressive forces were stationed. There were dead and wounded. Eight workers were arrested without evidence. After a dark trial, in the summer of that year, five were sentenced to death, two to life imprisonment, and another to 15 years in prison.
They are the Chicago Martyrs. The sentences were carried out between November 10 and 11, 1887. Two of those sentenced, August Spies and Albert Parsons, were recognized for the important role they played in union communications. The others, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden, Ludwig Lingg, Adolph Fisher, Oscar Neebe, and George Engel will never be forgotten. The struggle continues.
However, it was not until 1889 that International Workers' Day was established. At the Socialist Workers Congress of the Second International, held in Paris, they agreed to universalize the date and pay tribute to those who died in those distant times.
To this day, it is the most celebrated holiday worldwide, even more than many of a religious nature. It is a reason for joy and rest, for proletarian unity, and a space to continue that permanent claim to make work an oasis of economic and social welfare.
