By Earle Clarke
“Throughout USA history, the working class has fought for better wages and working conditions. These struggles often became violent and it is important to remember the men and women who died to bring us the weekend, the 8 – hour workday, the end of child labour, job safety and job security. For most of USA history, going on strike meant something far more radical. It was an indictment not only of individual worksites, but also of a social order in which few were rich and most were desperately poor. Going on strike could –and often did –mean beaten by strike breakers, shot at by National Guardsmen, or even have bombs dropped on you by bi- planes!” We owe it a duty to express our sincerest THANKS and GRATITUDE to those who martyred their lives so that we as workers can enjoy the fruits of their martyrdom in our work places today!” Commentary.
Dear reader, I looked out expectantly on May 7th, 2018, to see if I spotted our esteemed Prime Minister in our LABOUR DAY MARCH, but was very disappointed to learn that he had skipped the island the day before and was therefore missing in action. How could our Prime Minister and leader of the People’s Labour Party (PLP) desert us on this Historic Day for Workers, when he claims that his Political Party, the PLP is the REAL LABOUR? There is a passage of scripture which says, “By their deeds ye shall know them!” We have now come to observe how deceitful, how dangerous, how unashamed, how treacherous, our Prime Minister is, trying to give us the impression that his PLP is the REAL LABOUR. But, if his PLP was the Real Thing, why didn’t he organize the Labour Day March? Why didn’t he go and lay wreaths on the graves of the fallen comrades? Why didn’t he march with the Workers of the country since his Party is grounded with us? His absence from the country has sent the MESSAGE LOUD and CLEAR, that he is a FAKE.
That he has no use for young people and the working class. That he wanted to mama-guy us into believing that his PLP is the REAL LABOUR! We are now possessed with the knowledge that PLP is a mirage, it appears to be real, but, in truth and in fact, it is unreal. According to one of granny’s sayings – “It no dey no way!” We, the conscientious workers have sent the message LOUD and CLEAR to him that we have returned to our ROOST; we have been welcomed home like the Prodigal sons and daughters and the killing of the calf and the merriment will take place whenever he rings the bell and the ELECTIONS are called, so that we can unseated him. We will wait patiently until such time to celebrate! All of a sudden callers are calling in to the Radio Stations to complain that Labour Day is for Workers and should not be used by any Political Party, but these naysayers are forgetting their history; perhaps they are shell shocked from that massive show of support on the LABOUR DAY MARCH of May, 7th, 2018, which sent the message that the days of the unity mirage are at an end;
The people of New Town have already begun to send the Thunderous Message to the unity mirage representative that he has been weighed in the balances and found to be woefully wanting. You see, when you are not a people’s person and, when you do not have a Campaign Manager to improve your image, dog better than you. It is now clear as crystal that the mirage rep, for East Basseterre, gone eeen! That London Bridge has already begun to collapse. You see, dear reader, it is quite possible for some of the people to be fooled some of the time, but it is totally impossible for all of the people to be fooled all of the time. At some point, the people will come to their senses and realize that they have been duped, for, every man and woman has been formidably blessed with survival sense. At some time or other these downtrodden people would come to realize who is really and truly for them and who is against their best interests. According to my grandmother, “It is only a matter of time before they wake up!” And they have already been awakened and smelling the coffee.
Let me now continue the education of you my readers as to the IMPORTANCE of LABOUR DAY. Because of the knock–about that workers were receiving, they had seen first—hand that capitalism only benefitted their bosses, trading workers lives for profit. Thousands of men, women and children were Dying needlessly every year in the workplace, with life expectancy in the early twenties in some industries and little hope but death, rising out of their destitution. Socialism, the philosophy of the working class and the alternative to the exploitative capitalist system, offered another option. At its National Convention in Chicago, USA, held in 1884, The FEDERATION of ORGANISED TRADES and LABOUR UNIONS (which later became the AMERICAN FEDERATION of LABOUR), proclaimed that “EIGHT HOURS SHALL CONSTITUTE A LEGAL DAY’S WORK FROM AND AFTER MAY 1st, 1886.” The following year, the Federation of Trades and Labour Unions, backed by many knights of Labour Locals, reiterated their proclamation that 8 hours be the Legal working day and that they would support their demands with strikes and demonstrations.
At first, most radicals regarded this demand as too reformist – failing to strike at the root of the evil. One year before the Haymarket Massacre (which I would touch later) Samuel Fielden pointed out in a newspaper called the ALARM, that, whether you work for 8 hours or 10 hours, you were still a slave! Despite the misgivings of some workers, an estimated quarter of a million workers in the Chicago area became involved in the battle to implement the 8 hour work day, including The Trades and Labour Assembly, the SOCIALISTIC LABOUR PARTY and Local Knights of Labour. As more and more of the workforce united against the employers, these radical workers decided to fight for the 8 hour day, realizing that the tide of opinion and determination of most wage workers were set in this direction. With the involvement of more and more of the radical elements of the workers, there seemed to be an infusion of greater issues than the 8-hour day.
There grew a sense of a greater social revolution beyond the more immediate gains of shortened hours, but a drastic change in the economic structure of capitalism. In a PROCLAMATION printed just before May 1st 1886, one publisher appealed to workers with this plea: “The wage system is the only cause of the World’s Misery. It is supported by the rich classes and, to destroy it, they must either be made to work or die.” “Make your demand for EIGHT HOURS work day from the capitalistic Bloodhounds.”Not surprisingly, the entire city was prepared for mass bloodshed, reminiscent of the Great Railroad Strike in Martinsburg, Virginia, July 14th, 1877, when soldiers and police gunned down hundreds of striking workers. On May 1st, 1886, more than 399,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the USA walked off their jobs in the first May Day Celebration in history. In Chicago the epicenter for the 8-hour day agitators, 40,000 went out on strike in the public’s eye. This action by the working class was despised by the capitalists.
The names of the Leaders of the working class, Albert Parsons, Johann Most, August SPIES and Louis Lingg became household words in Chicago and throughout the Country. Parades, bands and tens of thousands of demonstrators in the streets, exemplified the workers strength and unity, yet did not become violent as the Newspapers predicted. More and more workers continued to walk off their jobs until he number swelled to to nearly 100,000, yet peace prevailed. It was not until 2 days later on May 3rd, that violence broke out at the McCormick Reaper Works between police and strikers.
For six months armed Pinkerton Agents and the Police harassed, beat and locked-out steelworkers as they picketed. Most of these workers belonged to the Metal Workers Union. During a speech near to the McCormick Plant, some 200 demonstrators joined the steel workers on the picket line. Beatings with Police clubs, escalated into rock throwing by the strikers which the Police responded to with gunfire. At least 2 strikers were killed and an unknown number were wounded. Filled with rage, a public meeting was called by some of the strikers for the following day in Haymarket Square to discuss the Police Brutality. Due to the bad weather and short notice, only about 3000 out of the tens of thousands from that day before showed up. This affair included families with children and the Mayor of Chicago himself. Later, the Mayor would testify that the crowd behaved calm and orderly and that speaker August Spies, made no suggestion…. for immediate use of force or violence toward any person. As the speech wound down, two detectives rushed to the main body of the Police, reporting that a speaker was using inflammatory language, inciting the Police to walk up to the speakers wagon.
As the Police began to disperse the already thinning crowd, a bomb was thrown into the Police ranks. No one knows who threw the bomb, but speculations varied from blaming anyone of the strikers to an agent provocateur working for the Police. Enraged, Police fired into the crowd. The exact number of civilians killed was never determined, but an estimated 7 or eight civilians died and up to forty were wounded. One Police officer died immediately and another seven died in the following weeks. Later evidence indicated that one of the Police deaths could be attributed to the bomb and that all the other Police Fatalities had or could have been due to their own indiscriminate gun fire. Apart from the bomb thrower who was never identified, it was not the strikers who perpetrated the violence. Eight strikers –Albert Parsons, August Spies, Samuel Fielden, Oscar Neebe, Michael Schwab, George Engel, Adolph Fischer and Louis Lingg, were arrested and convicted of murder, even though only 3 were present at Haymarket on that day. And those 3 were in full view of all, when the bombing occurred.
The jury in their trial comprised all business leaders in a gross mockery of justice. If the workers were agitating for better wages and better conditions from their bosses and their bosses found themselves as jurors on any case involving the Leaders of the workers, justice will never be meted out fairly. The same thing occurred in St. Kitts in the Attempted Coup of 1967: The financiers of this Attempted Coup were the jurors on the case, so their puppets would be brought in “NOT GUILTY!” After many futile Appeals, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, August Spies, Albert Parsons were hung to death on November 11th, 1887. Louis Lingg, in his final protest of the State’s claim of authority and punishment, took his own life the night before with an explosive device in his mouth. Oscar Neebe, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden, were pardoned six years later by Governor Altgeld who publicly lambasted the Judge on a travesty of Justice. Dear reader, “The sacrifices of so many people cannot be forgotten, or we will end up fighting for those same gains all over again. This is why we celebrate MAY DAY or LABOUR DAY!”
Anne Hidalgo
