Labor Day has its origin in May 1886, in tribute to the so-called “Chicago Martyrs”, a group of anarchist unionists who were sentenced to execution in Chicago (USA). However, a curious fact is that, while many countries celebrate it on the 1st of this month, the United States does so on the first Monday of September. Although it may seem like a contradiction, there is a reason, we will tell you!
The origin of international worker’s day
Prior to the start of the Second Industrial Revolution, Chicago began to emerge as a center of North American industrial development. One of the main factors that led the capital of Illinois to stand out was its commitment to innovation in means of transportation.
In this context, and as a turning point in its exponential growth, the Galena and Chicago Union Road railway line appeared, which allowed both inhabitants of the periphery and foreigners to move to the urban center in search of work.
In these years, the population of Illinois tripled. This required the construction of a better infrastructure that was in line with the industrialization model that was pursued. But in order to invest in it, the State plunged into loans that unleashed a severe economic crisis. It was at that moment when the workers began to express their discontent with the working conditions they had, which, for the most part, were based on days of up to 16 hours with precarious salaries.
From then on, Chicago and other large cities in the United States experienced a period of harsh strikes in which institutions were asked that all unions be included in the Ingersoll Act, approved by President Andrew Johnson in 1868, which established the eight-hour work day.
A change of course in 1884
It was not until 1884 when the Federation of Unions and Trade Organizations of the USA and Canada urged workers to implement an 8-hour day starting May 1, 1886. And, indeed, this decision was supported by both anarchist unions and as by the Noble and Sacred Order of the Knights of Labor, an association that fought for workers’ rights but rejected the strike as a pressure mechanism.
When the day marked by the Federation of Trade Unions arrived, some companies reduced the working day without the need for a strike, but others continued with the same dynamic and, as a consequence, on May 4, 1886, the well-known Haymarket revolt began: a demonstration that It resulted in the imprisonment and death sentence of 8 anarchist unionists, who are known as “the Haymarket martyrs.”
A look at the situation of workers in Europe
Meanwhile, in Europe workers also yearned to improve their working conditions. Not in vain, by then the First International had already been founded in England (1864), and in Spain, in 1890, the first strike took place in the mines of the Mieres Factory, in Asturias.
Specifically, Spain made official the current working day of 8 hours a day (“forty-eight weekly”) by Royal Decree of April 3, 1919. It will not be until 1983 when the maximum weekly working day becomes the 40 hours that, for the moment , keeps our Workers’ Statute in force.
May 1, International Day
Thus it was that in 1889, inspired by the determination of the “Martyrs of Haymarket”, France officially established May 1 as Workers’ Day. Commemoration to which other countries progressively joined, among which the United States does not appear.
In Spain, Worker’s Day began to be celebrated in May 1889. However, its festive nature came years later when, during the Second Republic, the Minister of Labor, Largo Caballero, decided to declare May 1 as a national holiday in 1931.
On the other hand, compared to this unification of dates, as we said at the beginning, while in much of the world Worker’s Day takes place on May 1, in the United States Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September, thus going against a historical story that began in its own territory.
Why does the United States celebrate it on the first Monday in September?
The fact that in the US ‘Labor Day’ is celebrated on the first Monday in September is not a mistake, nor is it a random choice. And to understand this you need to travel back in time to before the Haymarket riots. Specifically, to 1882.
This time in New York, on September 5, 1882, a significant event took place for workers: the Knights of Labor, that union that advocated for more moderate pressure measures, held a convention and a parade through the city. Due to its success, the event – which was later joined by other workers’ associations – continued to be organized in subsequent years.
Later, President Grover Cleveland, upon detecting that not all workers felt identified with the events that occurred in Chicago in May 1886, chose the date of the parade – which corresponds to the first Monday in September – to celebrate Labor Day. ‘.
Source: nationalgeographic.com.
