Labor Day

On Tuesday, May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, the United States of America, a rally in support of workers who were on strike demanding an eight-hour work day started peacefully.  They were also there to condemn the killing of several demonstrators by the Chicago police the previous day.  Suddenly, the rally turned violent.  Someone threw a bomb at the police as they were trying to disperse the crowd.  After the bomb exploded, the police started shooting at the fleeing demonstrators.  In all, seven police officers and four civilians were killed.  Estimates were that around seventy demonstrators were wounded. 

Eight anarchists were put trial by the State of Illinois as a result of the above violence.  Four were convicted and hanged.  A fifth committed suicide while awaiting his execution.  Three others were sentenced to prison terms.  Six years after the trial, a newly-elected governor of Illinois pardoned the three who were still in prison and criticized the trial that had convicted the eight anarchists. 

The so-called Haymarket Affair is generally considered to be the reason for the origin of the international May 1st holiday, known as Labor Day.  It is ironic that the United States of America, where the Haymarket Affair took place, some 129 years ago, does not celebrate Labor Day in May as does virtually the rest of the world.

Instead, Labor Day in the United States of America (and Canada) is celebrated on the first Monday in September.  Why?  In 1889, an international federation of socialist groups declared May 1st as a workers’s day to commemorate the events at the Haymarket Square in Chicago three years before.  Five years later, in 1994, U.S. President Grover Cleveland, uneasy with the association of May 1st with socialist organizations, signed into law an authorization to instead make Labor Day, in the United States, the first Monday in September.  Shortly thereafter Canada followed suit.  They are the only two countries in the world that celebrate Labor Day in September rather than May. 

Living in the United States most of my life, I did not notice this difference.  However, since I moved to Brazil, I have become much more aware of the international May 1st holiday.  I think it is time the United States joined the rest of the world to celebrate Labor Day in May.  Many Americans already do celebrate May 1st as the international Labor Day.  I think we should no longer be afraid of any connection with any socialist or communist organizations or governments.  The day of the red scare is over.  I know there may be some hesitency to create a new federal holiday.  And we could still keep the traditional first Monday in September as a holiday, but just give it another name.  Any suggestions or comments?