112 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
112 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
WHY MAYDAY?
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May 1st is a day of special significance for the labour movement. Its a day of
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worldwide solidarity. A time to remember past struggles and demonstrate our
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hope for a better future. A day to remember that an injury to one is an injury
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to all. But why Mayday? What is its history?
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Over a century ago the American Federation of Labour adopted a historic
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resolution which asserted that "eight hours shall constitute a legal days
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labour from and after May 1st, 1886".
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All across America in the months prior to this resolution, workers in their
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thousands were starting to struggle for ashorter week. Skilled and unskilled,
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men and women, black and white, immigrant and native were all fighting
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together.
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Chicago was the main centre of agitation. Over 300 000 workers came out on May
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1st. It was here that Mayday was born.
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THE ANARCHISTS OF CHICAGO
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It was the activities of the anarchists in the Central Labour Union and on the
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streets that made Chicago the centre of the eight hour movement.
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The anarchists thought that the eight hour day could only be wonthrough direct
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action and solidarity. They considered that struggles for reforms, like the
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eight hour day, were not enough in themselves. They considered them as only
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one battle in anongoing class war that would only end by social revolution
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andthe creation of anarchism ( a "free society based upon a co,operative
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system of production" in the words of their programme.
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It was with these ideas that they organised and fought. The anarchist unions
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were based on direct rank and file control from the bottom up, reflecting the
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type of society they were aiming for.
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The American ruling class saw its profits and power being undermined by united
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working class direct action. They met this threat with violence.
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THE HAYMARKET
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On May 1st, in Chicago, one half of the McCormick Harvester Company came out
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on strike. Two days later the police opened fire on the pickets, killing one
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and wounding several more. Outraged,the anarchists called a protest meeting at
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the Haymarket for the next day.
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The meeting was peaceful and rain soon sent away most of the large crowd. When
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only 200 people remained, a police column of 180 men moved in and ordered the
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meeting to disperse immediately, even though, according to the Mayor of
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Chicago, "nothing looked likely to require police interference".
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At that moment a bomb was thrown into the ranks of the police, killing one and
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wounding about seventy others. The police openedfire on the spectators,
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killing and wounding many.
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A reign of terror swept over Chicago. Meeting halls, union offices, printing
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shops and private homes were raided (usuallywithout warrants). Many suspects
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were beat up and some bribed."Make the raids first and look up the law
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afterwards" was the public statement of J. Grinnell, the States Attorney.
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The raids and repression, backed and encouraged by the press,weakened the
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eight hour movement. A major source of worry and fear for the ruling class was
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removed and both the American Labour and Anarchist movements suffered set
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backs. The raids had solved part of the problem, now scapegoats had to be
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found.
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THE TRAIL
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Eight men, all anarchists and active union organisers stood trail for murder.
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No proof was offered by the state that any of the eight had anything to do
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with the bomb. In fact, three had not even been at the meeting and another was
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there with his wife and children. A biased judge and jury and a hysterical
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press ensured that all eight were found guilty. Their only "crimes" were their
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anarchist ideas, union activity and the threat these held for theruling class.
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Grinnell made it clear, "Anarchy is on trail...these men have been selected...
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because they are leaders".
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In spite of world wide protest, four of the Haymarket Martyrs were hanged.
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Half a million people lined the funeral cortege and 20 000 crowded into the
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cemetery. In 1893, the new Governor ofIllinois made official what the working
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class in Chicago and across the world knew all along and pardoned the Martyrs
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becauseof their obvious innocence and because "the trail was not fair".
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In 1889, the American delegation attending the International Socialist
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congress in Paris proposed that May 1st be adopted as a workers' holiday. This
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was to commemorate working class struggle and the "Martyrdom of the Chicago
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Eight". Since then Mayday has became a day for international solidarity.
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NOW
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It is a sad comment that the only reason that Mayday is being celebrated on
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the right day this year is because May 1st happenedto fall on a Sunday. The
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events that gave birth to it show that its real meaning is not a stroll
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through the town followed by thespeeches of Labour politicians and trade union
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bureaucrats.
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It is not surprising that the real history and meaning of Maydayare hidden. If
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the anarchist ideas of the Chicago Martyrs became better known and put back
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into practice, the trade union bureaucrats and labour politicians who run the
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labour movement would be out of a job! The "Chicago Idea" of the Martyrs shows
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that there is a real, practical alternative to both the presentlabour movement
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and the present system. That idea is revolutionary anarchism. Labourism and
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Marxism have failed. Onlyanarchism points the way to freedom and equality.
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Mayday, like the Labour movement itself, must be rescued from all those with a
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vested interest in the present system. Mayday mustagain be a day to remember
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the past struggles of working class people and a day to show solidarity with
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present struggles. Butwe must not stop there, we must made every day a 1st of
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May! The future of the Labour movement lies in reclaiming its hidden past. We
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must create a real, fighting alternative and build the newworld in the shell
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of the old!
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