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May Day 1975: Fight, Don't Starve!

By VVAW

(Richard Nixon called it "Law and Order Day; "Franklin Roosevelt called it "Child Health Day," and each year thousands of children dance around a maypole supposedly celebrating spring. But May Day is none of these things and far from being "given to us" by the government, May Day is a holiday created by workers through brutal and bloody struggle to raise themselves from the swamp of exploitation and oppression. The history and great significance of this day belongs to the working people of the entire world and is celebrated by workers the world over. Although May Day is celebrated on May 1st, its spirit lives with us everyday, and we must link up with our heritage to move forward in the struggle against imperialism.

HISTORY

The American working class has, through its struggles, given birth to tow international workers holidays. One is International Women's Day, March 8th, born out of the militant struggles of women workers in the garment industry. The other is May Day--International Workers' Day.

In the 1880s, millions of workers came to this country crowded on ships hoping to find wealth and freedom. Once here, they became part of the American working class. Workers spent long hours knee deep in water in dangerous mines; they built the railroads; they built the cities, the factories and almost everything else. The average work day was between 14 and 18 hours. New York City bakes worked from 84-120 hours a week. Average weekly wages ranged from $7.40 to $8.00. In cities like Chicago, workers and their families were forced to live in filthy tenement houses or in cellars, and for this they had to pay $10-15 a month. These conditions became worse in 1883 when a depression hit the country, throwing thousands out of work (sound familiar?)

But the worker didn't take this sitting on their thumbs. They were organizing unions, and a mass movement was growing to demand an 8-hour work day. Wearing "eight hour shoes" manufactured in factories where workers had won the shorter work day and smoking "eight hour tobacco," workers everywhere took up the call--"eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will!"

It was in Chicago that the largest strikes and demonstrations occurred. Forty-thousand workers struck and 80,000 marched. The workers movement in Chicago was the strongest and most militant in the country. It was there, at the height of the struggle for the 8-hour day, that the infamous "Haymarket Massacre" happened. Workers had been on strike at the McCormick Harvester factory for several months. Chicago police had attacked the strikers several times. On May 3rd, 6,000 workers rallied in support of the strikers when police attacked the rally, killing one worker and wounding several others.

Some 1300 people turned out to protest the murder at this factory, meeting at Haymarket Square. As they heard speeches by Albert Parsons, August Spies and other militant leaders, a large contingent of police suddenly appeared and ordered the crowd to disperse. A bomb exploded in the midst of the police, leaving one dead. The police began to fire wildly into the crowd, killing one demonstrator and wounding others. Immediately, most of the leaders of the 8-hour movement were arrested. A reign of terror was unleashed on working class communities, with thousands of workers being arrested and thrown out of work.

"Hang them first and try them afterwards," cried the large newspapers of the day. All the defendants were found guilty and all but one sentenced to hang. A mass campaign was begun to try to save their liver. Workers and progressive people here and in other countries demonstrated to demand their freedom. But August Spies crushed this notion as he addressed his "hanging" judge: "If you think that by hanging us you can stamp out the labor movement--the movement from which the down-trodden millions, the millions who toil in want and misery, expect starvation--if this is your opinion then hang us! Here you will tread upon a spark, but there and there, behind you and in front of you, and everywhere, flames blaze up! It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out."

Since that day, May Day has been a rallying cry for millions of working people around the world. May Day in Berlin in 1929 saw workers defy police bans to demonstrate and when they were attacked, the workers threw up barricades and beat back the police who tried to enter the workers' community. On May Day 1943, in occupied Warsaw, the Jewish Fighters organization celebrated their holiday in their ghetto and then, disguised as Nazi troops, attached and destroyed a German command post.

TODAY

VVAW/WSO joined with thousands of other people in celebrating May Day this year. We are dedicated to building a fighting vets and GI movement, a movement to attack the rotten VA system and to struggle to overcome the oppressive conditions of the military as a part of the overall fight being waged against imperialism. The majority of vets and GIs come from the working class, and most vets have returned to that class, and most vets have returned to that class, and most vets have returned to that class upon release from the military. The very roots of vets and GIs go back to those men and women fighting for an 8-hour day, fighting against starvation, unemployment and the tyranny of the bosses.

May Day is a fighting day, a joyous day, and a day for militant celebration of past struggles and future victories. When we are demanding "Decent Benefits for All Vets," "Jobs or Income for All," and "End All Oppressions in the Military" we must wage our struggle in the spirit of May Day, understanding our revolutionary heritage. We must bring to the doors of the VA and to the gates of the military that unity which belongs to all the working and oppressed people of the world--a unity and spirit embodied in International Workers Day!