May Day cannot be relegated to an empty anniversary, a generic "labor
day," but it is necessary to remember its authentically working-classand internationalist origins, to recover and re-propose those contents
of unity, hope, and emancipation that have characterized the history of
the world proletariat. ---- We cannot forget that the origins and
history of May Day are linked to the struggle for the conquest of the
eight-hour work day, a struggle that began in 1866 in the most
industrialized countries of Europe and in the United States of America.
And twenty years later, in 1886, right in Chicago, during the days of
struggle that began on May 1 for the reduction of the working day, the
police shot at workers in front of a factory, causing deaths and
injuries. Subsequently, a provocation was carried out during a protest
against the massacre, with serious incidents caused by the police and
the explosion of a bomb; these facts, thanks to the statements of false
witnesses, led to the death sentence of five union leaders and the
sentencing of three others to many years in prison.
These unionists, all anarchists, all immigrant workers (except Albert
Parsons who was born in the USA), completely innocent of the
pre-constituted charges brought against them, were hanged on November
11, 1887 despite the vast protests in the country: thus were murdered
August Spies, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Albert Parsons, while Louis
Lingg committed suicide in prison before the execution; Samuel Fielden,
Oscar Neebe and Michael Schwab had their sentences commuted to many
years of imprisonment.
But the struggles for the reduction of working hours, after an initial
disarray following the events in Chicago and the consequent repression,
resumed with greater force, and in a historic congress held in Paris in
1889 an international day of protest was decided for May 1st of the
following year in memory of the "Chicago Martyrs" and to demand the
eight-hour day.
Subsequently, thanks to the increasingly large mobilizations of the
working class, in the early 1900s there were significant reductions in
working hours in several countries, while the conquest of the eight-hour
day became widespread in European industry between 1917 and 1919 also
due to the push given to the proletariat by the Russian revolution.
But commemorating May Day today cannot be resolved in an institutional
celebration, completely separated from the conflict between capital and
labor and from all current resistance, and for this reason we also want
to remember that of the Palestinian and Kurdish peoples; that against
military bases and the spread of militarism in society; that against the
production and trade of weapons, that against all the wars of
imperialism. We want to remember the resistance of the young people who
protest against pollution and against job insecurity; of the women
fighting to defend their rights in a male chauvinist and patriarchal
society; of the workers who fight against layoffs, for a decent wage,
for safety in the workplace and for a better quality of life; of the
migrants who flee from wars and poverty in search of a better future;
that of all the individuals who fight against resurgent fascism, against
every border (because "our homeland is the entire world"), for a nature
and a humanity freed from capitalist exploitation in all its forms;
against racism, repression; against every political and state oppression.
In every circumstance, long live the resistance to capitalism!
But with the ever-increasing introduction of new technologies, with the
disruptive emergence of what goes under the name of artificial
intelligence, it is increasingly urgent and necessary to resume the
battle for a generalized reduction in working hours, with disputes that
go beyond national borders, for an average wage capable of countering
social dumping at least within the old continent. It is necessary to
fight with determination to achieve the goal of a drastic reduction in
working hours and for strong wage increases.
This is why May Day still highlights its great relevance, to be able to
achieve fundamental immediate objectives and continue towards the
liberation of all exploited and oppressed classes. And so, yesterday as
today, as tomorrow:
Long live the Internationalist May Day!
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/34329
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten