May Day/Primero de Mayo 2007

Chicago Labor & Arts Festival Eleven: Borders & Barriers

May Day, International Labor day, was born in the bitter class warfare waged by workers in the United States after the Civil War. In form, that fight was an effort to win an eight-hour working day and to protect immigrant rights; in content, it was the battle of a new class that was being forged in the crucible of a brutal industrialization.

On May 1, 1886, workers throughout the United States engaged in a massive nationwide strike to demand the eight-hour day. Chicago was the strike’s center. At the time, Chicago was the fastest growing city in the world. Chicago’s factories were being filled not only by young people being driven off the farms of the U.S. Midwest, but also by workers from England, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Bohemia, Sweden, and many other countries.

Just days after that strike — on May 4, 1886 — a rally was held at Haymarket Square in Chicago to protest a police attack on a group of strikers. The rally brought together young and old. Speeches were given in several different languages. As this peaceful rally was winding to a close, 176 cops moved in. They ordered the rally’s last speaker — an English immigrant worker, Samuel Fielden — to stop. Then someone threw a bonb. It killed one police officer and wounded many others. The police opened fire, killing many people.

In the days after the rally, the police went wild, breaking into homes, wrecking the printing presses of foreign-language newspapers, and arresting leaders of Chicago’s emerging union movement. Immigrant workers were accused of being terrorists; suspects were beaten and even tortured.

In June 1886, eight leaders of the Chicago union movement were put on trial, charged with being accessories to murder at Haymarket Square. Of the eight, seven were immigrants. (One defendant — Samuel Fielden — was from Lancashire, England. Six had been raised in Germany: George Engel, Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg, Oscar Neebe, Michael Schwab, and August Spies.)

Only one man among the eight charged had been born and raised in the United States. Albert Parsons had managed to slip out of Chicago after the bombing, but decided that he could not live with himself if he let his colleagues stand trial alone. On June 21, 1886 — the first day of the trial — Albert Parsons appeared in court, telling the judge: “I have come to stand trial, your Honor, with my innocent comrades.”

Tried before a biased judge and jury, all the defendants were convicted. Despite worldwide protests, Albert Parsons, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, and August Spies were hanged by the state of Illinois in November 1887. (A figth defendant, Louis Lingg, died in his cell the day before the executions under very suspicious circumstances.) Three other defendants were given long prison sentences.

On July 14, 1889 — the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille Prison during the French Revolution — at the International Labor Congress in Paris, a delegate from the American Federation of Labor proposed that the Congress adopt May 1 as International Labor Day and a day to remember the “Martyrs of Chicago.”

May Day is the one special day of the year when all workers of the world assemble in their fighting columns to proclaim the same message, in every language spoken on Earth: “Our class created everything of value on this planet — with our sweat and blood. We built this world — and we will not cease fighting until we own it!”

– Chris Mahin
Tribuno del Pueblo
May June 2007
www.tribunodelpueblo.org

May 1 May Day March, Rally

Immigrant worker march assembles union park 10 am
Mayo Primero / May Day
www.mayday2007.org

¡LEGALIZACION Y DERECHOS PLENOS PARA TODOS!
LEGALIZATION AND FULL RIGHTS!

10:00 AM Rally - Union Park [Ashland Ave. and Washington St.]

12:00 PM March - Randolph St., Desplaines St., Jackson Blvd., Columbus Dr.

2:00 PM Rally - Grant Park [Balbo Dr. and Columbus Dr.]

In 1886, Chicago immigrant workers led and won the fight for the 8-hour work day. Today, workers around the world remember that struggle in May Day commemorating the Haymarket Martyrs. One hundred and twenty years later, immigrant workers are once again leading the struggle for workers’ rights by demanding the legalization, with full rights, of all undocumented workers.
This May Day, join the march and rally for the unconditional legalization for ALL, and say NO to border walls and militarization of the border, NO to guest-worker programs, and NO to raids and deportations.

Convoca/Convoke
Movimiento 10 de Marzo,
AFSCME Council 31, AFSCME Local 2081, Alianza Leadership Institute, Amigas Latinas, Asociacion de Salvadore los en Illinois, Association of Latino Men for Action, Casa Aztlan, Chicago and Miswest Regional Joint Board of UNITE-HERE, Chicago LGBT Immigrant Alliance, Chicago Worker Collaborative, Coalicion Internacional de Mexicanos en el Exterior, Committee against the Militarization of Youth, Communist Party of Illinois, Confemex, Council of Islamic Organizations of the Greater Chicago, Durango Unido en Chicago, Federacion de Hidalguenses en Illinois, Frente Unido de Inmigrantes, Gay Liberation Network, Gold Star Family for Peace Chicago, Industrial Workers of the World, Inner-City Muslim Action Network, International Socialist Organization, Jobs with Justice, Korean American Resource and Cultural Center, Labor Beat, Latin United Community Housing Association, Mujeres Latinas en Accion, Nahui Ollin Danza Mexika, Organizacion Latina del Suroeste, Orgullo en Accion, Partido de la Revolucion Democrcitica, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, Primera Asamblea Popular de Pilsen, Progress Center for Independent Living for People with Disabilities, Radio Arte, Rainbow Push Latino Chapter, Red Unida de Immigrantes y Refugiados, Teachers for Social Justice, SEIU Local 1, SEIU Local 73, Socialist Workers Party, Southeast Chicago Coalition for Immigrant Rights, UE Western Region, UIC Students for Immigrant Rights, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881, West Town Leadership United

Para endorsar escriba a/To endorse email Orlando orl_sep@yahoo.com

12:30 at the Haymarket monument — trade union contingent rallies, joins march

WORKER JUSTICE MAY DAY RALLY

All Workers are Welcome

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
12:30 p.m. at the Haymarket Memorial
Des Plaines Avenue between
Randolph Street and Lake Street, Chicago

Join your brothers and sisters on International Labor Day to rally in solidarity for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act and gaining legal rights for immigrant workers.

Unite with workers from aournd the world in the struggle for human rights. The struggle for a living wage and decent working conditions has no national boundaries.

Distinguished speakers, global entertainment and the installation of a memorial plaque will set the stage for a march to join in solidarity with the immigrant rights march at noon.

Join us at Haymarket memorial for the Third Annual May Day Celebration to honor our past, pay tribute to the fallen heroes and celebrate our upcoming victories.

This event is called by Chicago Federation of Labor - AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 31, Chicago Metro LCLAA, Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, Illinois Labor History Society, Jobs with Justice, March 10 Coalition, National Organization of Legal Service Workers (UAW Local 2320), SEIU Local 1, SEIU Local 73, UAW Region 4, UE Western Region, UFCW Local 1546, UFCW Local 881, and UNITE/HERE Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board. List in formation.

2 PM Grant Park rally

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May 2 Wednesday
Labor Trail Talk and Tour

Joe Berry, Professor at the Labor Education Center at UIC
Film on the 1877 General Strike that predated Haymarket
Walk to Haymarket Square and talk on significance of Haymarket

“Haymarket and the Labor Trail”
Wednesday, May 2, 4-6:30 p.m.

Celebrate May Day at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum with Haymarket and the Labor Trail

A Walking Tour from Hull House to Haymarket, Film Screening, and Discussion (with food!)

More About 1877: The Grand Army of Salvation

For two weeks in the summer of 1877, the United States was brought to a standstill. A nationwide rebellion quickly spread along the country’s railroad lines. Eighty thousand railroad workers walked out, joined by hundreds of thousands of Americans- white and black, native and foreign-born, employed and unemployed-all outraged by the excesses of the giant railroad companies and the misery of a four- year economic depression. Police, state militia, and federal troops clashed with strikers and sympathizers. The Great Uprising shaped the beliefs of a generation of Americans, marking the end of the nation’s first century and inaugurating a new era of conflict over the meaning of America in the industrial age. Narrated by James Earl Jones, 1877 vividly portrays this little-known yet critical event in U.S. history.

The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum serves as a dynamic memorial to Jane Addams, the work of her associates, and the neighborhood they served. The museum’s exhibits and programs interpret the extraordinary history of Hull-House Settlement and link research, education, and social engagement. The Museum is a part of the College of Architecture and the Arts at UIC.

Wednesday, May 2
4:00-6:30 P.M.

Meeting place: Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Residents’ Dining Hall
800 S. Halsted St.

Event is free, but space is limited. For reservations, call 312.413.5353.

Join the historical walking tour with activist and scholar Joe Berry, leading from the historic Jane Addams Hull-House Museum to Haymarket. This tour is based on the history of Chicago’s working class life and struggle as represented in the Chicago Center for Working Class Studies’ Labor Trail Map, created by Leon Fink, Professor of History at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Come back to the Museum afterwards for treats and a screening of 1877: The Grand Army of Starvation, a film narrated by James Earl Jones about the great railroad strike of 1877, an important precurser to Haymarket.

4-4:15: Introductory remarks on Haymarket, Jane Addams, and the Hull-House.

4:15-5:45: Guided tour by Joe Berry, walk to Haymarket site & walk back.

5:45-6:30: Film screening and Conversation, 1877: The Grand Army of Starvation (American Social History Project, narrated by James Earl Jones).

More about Joe Berry:

Joe Berry is an activist and scholar, who teaches labor history at UIC. The child of two teachers, Berry first learned organizing in the civil rights, student, and socialist movements of the 1960’s, and was a regional traveler (organizer) for Students for a Democratic Society in Iowa. After spending ten years teaching social studies, English and special education in the public schools in San Francisco, he taught history and labor studies in colleges in the San Francisco area, especially at the City College of San Francisco. He holds an MA in history from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. in labor studies from the Union Institute and University.

This event is co-sponsored by the Chicago Labor and Arts Festival, the Chicago Labor Education Project and the Illinois Labor History Society and the UIC Department of History.
http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/hull/Events/haymarket/