On Labor Day
TODAY, May 1, marks the annual celebration of Labor Day, which is also aptly called the International Workers’ Day. In the Philippines and in most nations worldwide, this is a public holiday.
Hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of workers typically turn to the streets on this day to stage demonstrations and rallies. The activist spirit of the activities is reminiscent of the events that happened in the past that led to May 1 being pronounced as the day of the workers.
In the late 19th century, in the United States, the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions resolved to pass a resolution declaring that “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s work from and after May 1, 1886.” In those times, the standard working period could go beyond 12 hours.
There was resistance on the part of the employers. This drove the workers across the nation to go on strike. Chicago became the center of the movement, with tens of thousands of laborers parading on the city streets.
On May 3, 1886, workers of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. protested peacefully near the firm’s plant in Chicago and listened to speeches from several personalities. A fight broke out between these workers and those who had taken their positions in the company. The police quickly went to the scene. After the scuffle, several protesters were killed and more were injured.
The following day, on the fateful May 4, workers ( various estimates range from a hundred to over a thousand) gathered in Haymarket Square in view of the incident. It was peaceful at the start but turned to a bloody disaster in the end.
According to several accounts, an unidentified individual hurled a bomb at the police, who were also at the protest. A commotion arose; shots were fired. Although the exact number of casualties and the injured are unknown, at least 10 were said to have died while around a hundred suffered injuries.
The plight of the American workers fighting for the eight-hour workday gained sympathy in Europe. In 1889, in Paris, during a convention of the Second International, in light of the eight-hour movement and the circumstances in the United States, May 1 was declared what came to be known today as the International Workers’ Day.
In the Philippines, according to an article by the Filipinas Heritage Library, Labor Day was first celebrated in 1903. A group called Union Obrero Democratica de Filipinas (UODF) rallied more than a hundred thousand workers to Malcañang on May 1 to demand better working conditions.
The demonstration alarmed the American colonial government. As a result, the Philippine Constabulary, a force composed of both Americans and Filipinos, raided the printing press of UODF and arrested the group’s president, Dominador Gomez, on charges of illegal assembly and sedition.
But, as the article noted, the labor movement remained unfazed and continued its struggle. “On May 1, 1913, Congreso Obrero de Filipinas was organized. Led by Hermenegildo Cruz, it battled for an eight-hour working day, abolition of child labor, just labor standards for women, and liability of capitalists,” the article noted.
In the ensuing years, the article noted, the labor movement in the country, despite factional differences among adherents, continued to grow. “There are now unions for almost every type of worker and these unions are affiliated with some national confederations. The unions help workers gain more benefits under existing labor laws. A militant federation, the Kilusang Mayo Uno, even involves itself in political issues. All these make slogans and streamers during May Day rallies more colorful and forceful,” it said.
Today, as workers fill the streets, march side by side and air their grievances in unison, they just want two things: to be heard and to be given what is due to them.