Lest we forget

 

May 1, 1886

The Struggle for the Eight-Hour Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_Riot
May Day parade and strikes

In October 1884, a convention held by the Federation of Organized Trades
and Labor Unions unanimously set May 1, 1886, as the date by which the
eight-hour work day would become standard.[10] When May 1, 1886
approached, American labor unions prepared for a general strike in
support of the eight-hour day.[11]
On Saturday, May 1, rallies were held throughout the United States.
There were an estimated 10,000 demonstrators in New York[12] and 11,000
in Detroit.[13] In Milwaukee, Wisconsin some 10,000 workers turned
out.[13] The movement's center was in Chicago, where an estimated 40,000
workers went on strike.[14] Albert Parsons was an anarchist and founder
of the International Working People's Association (IWPA). Parsons, with
his wife Lucy and their children, led a march of 80,000 people down
Michigan Avenue.[14] Another 10,000 men employed in the lumber yards
held a separate march in Chicago.[15] Estimates of the total number of
striking American workers range from 300,000[14] to half a million.[15]


The first flier calling for a rally in the Haymarket on May 4.


The revised flier for the rally. The words Workingmen Arm Yourselves and
Appear in Full Force! have been removed.
On May 3, striking workers in Chicago met near the McCormick Harvesting
Machine Co. plant. Union molders at the plant had been locked out since
early February and the predominantly Irish-American workers at McCormick
had come under attack from Pinkerton guards during an earlier strike
action in 1885. This event, along with the eight-hour militancy of
McCormick workers, had gained the strikers some respect and notoriety
around the city. By the time of the 1886 general strike, strikebreakers
entering the McCormick plant were under protection from a garrison of
400 police officers. Although half of the replacement workers defected
to the general strike on May 1, McCormick workers continued to harass
"scabs" who crossed the picket lines. Speaking to a rally outside the
plant on May 3, August Spies advised the striking workers to "hold
together, to stand by their union, or they would not succeed."[16]
Well-planned and coordinated, the general strike to this point had
remained largely nonviolent. When the end-of-the-workday bell sounded,
however, a group of workers surged to the gates to confront the
strikebreakers. Despite calls by Spies for the workers to remain calm,
gunfire erupted as police fired on the crowd. In the end, two McCormick
workers were killed (although some newspaper accounts said there were
six fatalities).[17] Spies would later testify, "I was very indignant. I
knew from experience of the past that this butchering of people was done
for the express purpose of defeating the eight-hour movement."[16]
Outraged by this act of police violence, local anarchists quickly
printed and distributed fliers calling for a rally the following day at
Haymarket Square (also called the Haymarket), which at the time was a
bustling commercial center near the corner of Randolph Street and Des
Plaines Street. These fliers, which were printed in both German and
English, alleged police had murdered the strikers on behalf of business
interests and urged workers to seek justice. The first batch of fliers
contain the words Workingmen Arm Yourselves and Appear in Full Force!
When Spies saw the line, he said he wouldn't speak at the rally unless
the words were removed from the flier. All but a few hundred of the
fliers were destroyed, and new fliers were printed without the offending
words.[18] More than 20,000 copies of the revised flier were
distributed.[19]
------

Progress always comes at the cost of a struggle.
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death."  - Rachel Carson



http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death."  - Rachel Carson



http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html

 

wrote:


You big dope......didn't you know that this was replaced by Loyalty
Day?  What are ya' some sorta damned commie pinko, huh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalty_Day

Loyalty Day is observed on May 1 in the United States. It is a day set
aside for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for
the recognition of the heritage of American freedom.

The holiday was first observed in 1921[2] as "Americanization Day,"[3]
and was intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day on
May Day (May 1), an internationally celebrated holiday which was
perceived as communist.

Loyalty Day is celebrated with parades and ceremonies in several U.S.
communities, although many people in the United States remain unaware
of it. Although a legal holiday, it is not a federal holiday, and is
not commonly observed.

It was made an official holiday by the U.S. Congress on July 18, 1958
(Public Law 85-529).[4][5] Following the passage of this law,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed May 1, 1959 the first
official observance of Loyalty Day. [6]

In 2007 President George W. Bush issued an official proclamation of
the May 1, 2007 Loyalty Day in accordance with the 1958 Congressional
declaration,[7] as have many of his predecessors:

    * Bill Clinton, proclamation 6556 (May 1, 1993) [8]
    * George H. W. Bush, proclamation 5962 (April 28, 1989) [9]
    * Ronald Reagan, proclamation 4836 (April 14, 1981) [10]
    * Jimmy Carter, proclamation 4493 (March 23, 1977) [11]
    * Gerald Ford, proclamation 4354 (March 4, 1975) [12]
    * John F. Kennedy, proclamation 3528 (April 18, 1963) [13]


As did our newest prez....
http://polfeeds.com/item/Proclamation-Signed-By-The-President-Today-Regarding-Loyalty-Day


Charlie

"Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made
up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the
earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I
am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there
is a soul in prison, I am not free."

                  -------   Eugene V. Debs:

 



Eff 'em all. This isn't about an -ism. It's about R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

"Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made
up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the
earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I
am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there
is a soul in prison, I am not free."

                  -------   Eugene V. Debs:

Freedom is a constant struggle. It was purchased with the precious blood
of men and women, like you and I, dreaming of a better day for all our
children. Don't give back an inch. All work is worthy of respect.

Write your Representatives to vote no on HR 875
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-solemn-walk-through-HR-8-by-Linn-Cohen
-Cole-090314-67.html


I believe that liberty is the only genuinely valuable thing that men
have invented, at least in the field of government, in a thousand years.
I believe that it is better to be free than to be not free, even when
the former is dangerous and the latter safe.  I believe that the finest
qualities of man can flourish only in free air - that progress made
under the shadow of the policeman's club is false progress, and of no
permanent value.  I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another
into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields
up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a
slave.
      - H. L. Mencken
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death."  - Rachel Carson



http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html

 


It took me a long time to realize that.

I ended up working at the same fast food place twice. In the
beginning, all I saw was big corp. USA exploiting all the little
people to make a profit. I would work for them because I had no other
easy choice, but I wasn't going to try very hard.

After about the first year, I quit to help some friends start up a
retail shop and e-commerce site. The store only lasted about a year
before the investor pulled the plug, so I started my own internet
store for a while. This is actually possible with almost no initial
capital investment, which was what I had at the time.

Running my own business, even just for a little while, showed my
exactly how much work has to go into it. The level of orders always
seemed to match the amount of work I was putting into the website.
That was the smallest and only fun part of it. After that, there was
purchasing, shipping, customer service, inventory, accounting, taxes
(easy if the accounting is done), &c.

It was a fun experiment, but I eventually decided to go get my fast
food job back. I still didn't care much for the company, but I felt I
should give that job everything I had either way. I was the one
putting myself into that situation. The most noticeable change was in
my attitude toward the customers. I actually CARED about them, before
I had been blaming them for my terrible situation, when I was the one
to blame.

The place did eventually start making me crazy, but then I ran into a
really cool bum job at school, which would pay almost as much. Then
not long after that, my wife and I had a baby, so I had to quit
messing around to go find a job that would pay a living wage.

There is a book I had read before all of this called The Hacker Ethic.
(Amazon.com product link shortened)
The author talks about the Hacker Ethic and compares it to the
Protestant work ethic. This book really got me to think about my own
reasons for working. I had never heard the term "work ethic" before
reading this book.

There were a number of other influences during this time, but it would
take some trying to remember all the details. I still don't think too
highly of that unnamed fast food chain. I feel that any profitable
company should be paying its workers a living wage, at the very least.
There are a lot of people who have no choice but to work long hours at
a job which doesn't pay them enough to feed, clothe, and house
themselves and their families. To turn a profit from their situation,
I feel, is exploitation. At the same time, this would be a great
improvement for many people.

 

In article


 The original May 1 celebration is a good thing.  However I feel it has
been co-opted.  Many of my peers in the work place 1990 bragged about
how much overtime they got.  In my immediate family I have a brother a
grad of Berkeley School of music that worked 12 hours a day 7 days a
week and after 25  years lost it and no pension.  This as a Nursery
Manager.  Now he works 6 days a week 12 hours with a 401 K.    Yea good
money but what a life.

 Bill  

  Excellent book

"The Poverty Of Affluence"  subtitled  "A Psychological Portrait of the
American Way of Life".   By Paul L. Wachtel

  Check out the reviews.

  
<(Amazon.com product link shortened)
dp/0865711518/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid41274971&sr=1-1>

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

Not all who wander are lost.
 - J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)