Across Centuries, May Day Adapts to Shifting Struggles for Justice

[Omaha Steve]

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5927/may_1_adapts_to_shifting_struggles_for_justice/

Saturday May 1 1:01 pm


Joaquin Ventura and others rally for immigrant worker rights on May Day in 2009, in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

By Roger Bybee

The stakes were huge in May 1886 when workers in Milwaukee demanded an eight-hour limit to the workday. The fundamental issue, as one company owner put it: "My right to run my works and your right to sell me your time and labor. Our whole civilization and independence hangs on these."

Indeed, Milwaukee's working class received a clear message about precisely the kind of "civilization" that their employers and Gov. Jeremiah Rusk had in mind.

A general strike for the eight-hour day had begun on May 1 and continued to gain momentum. as many major firms closed down rather than face a struggle with thousands of determined workers. The strike continued to spread across Milwaukee, with workers parading from one factory to the next, drawing out fellow laborers to join the battle for a reduced workweek.

By May 5, Milwaukee's corporate owners and Gov. Rusk had seen enough, and Rusk sent in the state militia.

On that morning, some 1,500 workers gathered at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church and then marched to the North Chicago Rolling Mills plant in the densely-packed Bay View industrial neighborhood near Lake Michigan.

FROM ROLLING MILLS TO HAYMARKET, POLICE ATTACK

The Rolling Mills were the largest workplace in the city that was still operating. Gov. Rusk authorized the militia to shoot down the strikers, and the militia commander gave the workers "an inaudible warning to stop," according to Jeremy Brecher's classic history Strike!

FULL story at link.