May Day Began in Chicago: Home of the Labor Movement

Every year on May 1, workers around the world mark May Day as a day of solidarity, protest, and collective power. May Day’s roots are in Chicago, the city of big shoulders- and the home of the labor movement.

The Fight for the Eight-Hour Work Day

In the late 19th century, working people in Chicago faced horrific conditions. Fourteen to sixteen hour shifts were the norm. Factory floors were super dangerous. Wages were low. Workers had little protection and even less power.

Then, workers realized that they had strength in numbers.

Labor unions, immigrant workers, tradespeople, and radicals came together around their demand:

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.

On May 1, 1886, hundreds of thousands of workers across the United States walked off the job in support of the eight-hour workday. Chicago became the epicenter of the movement, with tens of thousands marching through the streets.

Haymarket

After police killed striking workers at the McCormick Reaper Works, labor activists called for a protest meeting in Haymarket Square on May 4.

The rally started peacefully with families and their children present. Then, police moved in to disperse the crowd. "Someone" threw a bomb, and chaos ensued. Mayhem, gunfire, and panic set in, with many workers killed or maimed.

Eight labor organizers whom had no proven connection to the bombing were arrested and tried in a case widely condemned as unjust. Four were executed. One died in prison.

Their crimes? Organizing workers and demanding more.

In 1889, labor movements around the world chose May 1 as International Workers’ Day to honor the Chicago workers who fought and died for the eight-hour day. This city helped shape the global labor movement.

The rights many workers now consider basic, like weekends, overtime pay, safer workplaces, collective bargaining, child labor laws were won through struggle. They were not gifts from employers. They were demanded by organized people willing to risk everything.

This May Day, we remember Haymarket. We honor those who fought before us, and we continue the fight in the 21st century.