Today in Labor History March 15, 1917: The U.S. Supreme Court approved the 8-hour workday under the threat of a rail strike. Philadelphia carpenters struck for the 10-hour day in 1791 and by the 1830s, it had become a general demand of workers. In 1835, Philadelphia workers organized the first general strike in North America, led by Irish coal heavers, in the struggle for a 10-hour day. However, by 1836, labor movement publications were calling for an 8-hour day. In 1864, the 8-hour day became a central demand of the Chicago labor movement. In 1867, a citywide strike for the 8-hour day shut down the city's economy for a week before falling apart. During the 1870s, eight hours became a central demand of the U.S. labor movement, with a network of 8-Hour Leagues forming across the nation.

In 1872, 100,000 workers in New York City struck and won the eight-hour day. On May 1, 1886 Albert Parsons, head of the Chicago Knights of Labor, led 80,000 people down Michigan Avenue in the first modern May Day Parade, with workers chanting, "Eight-hour day with no cut in pay." Within days, 350,000 workers went on strike nationwide for the 8-hour day. On 3 May 1886, anarchist August Spies, editor of the Arbeiter-Zeitung (Workers Newspaper), spoke to 6,000 workers. Afterwards, they marched to the McCormick plant in Chicago to harass scab workers. The police arrived and opened fire, killing four and wounding many more. On May 4, workers protested this police violence at a meeting in Haymarket Square. An unknown assailant hurled a bomb at the police. The authorities rounded up hundreds of labor activists and anarchists. They convicted 8 in a kangaroo court and executed four of them, including Parsons and Spies.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American currently works 8.8 hours every day. This, of course, does not include commute time which, for many Americans, can add another two or more hours a day to the time they give away for free to their bosses. Nor does it include work we take home. The scam of being a “salaried” employee is commonly exploited by bosses, who argue that we are paid based on the responsibilities completed, regardless of how long it takes to complete them.

Read my full article on Lucy Parsons, which goes deeper into the Haymarket affair and the struggle for the 8-hour day: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #EightHourDay #SCOTUS #generalstrike #haymarket #police #policebrutality #mayday #deathpenalty #IWW #union

Labour Day march for #eightHourDay by the #labourmovement in Melbourne April 1856: stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House achieved an eight-hour day. Their #directaction was a success, among the first organised workers in the world to achieve an eight-hour day, with no loss of pay.
+ International Working Women's Day Rally voices

https://www.3cr.org.au/sticktogether/episode/2-celebrations-labour-day-iwwd

#3CR #iwd2026 #LabourDay

Lucy Parsons fought hard to get her husband freed and exonerated for the Haymarket bombing. Despite the fact that he wasn't even in Haymarket Square the day of the bombing, he was still wrongly convicted and executed along with 3 other innocent anarchists. They had been fighting for the 8 hour workday. Their struggle, and their execution, are the basis for why May 1 is celebrated as International Workers Day in nearly every country in the world (except the U.S.). Lucy Parsons, was an African American and indigenous anarchist, would go on to cofound the IWW, along with Mother Jones, Eugene Debs, James Connolly, Big Bill Haywood, and others.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #lucyparsons #anarchism #blackhistorymonth #eighthourday #haymarket #IWW #BlackMastodon

Today in Labor History January 22, 1890: The Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union merged to form the United Mine Workers of America. Their initial goals were improved mine safety, independence from company stores, and collective bargaining. In 1898, they won the 8-hour day. By the 1930s, the UMW had over 800,000 members. However, their history was filled with bloody strikes. On April 3, 1891, deputized members of the National Guard killed at least 10 striking UMW members in the Morewood massacre. The cops killed 19 striking UMW members in the Lattimer Massacre, September 10, 1897. Eight UMW members and five private detectives died in the Battle of Virden, in October 1898.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #KnightsOfLabor #union #UnitedMineWorkers #umw #strike #massacre #mining #eighthourday #workplacesafety #police

Today in Labor History December 10, 1865: August Spies, anarchist labor organizer and Haymarket martyr was born. As he was led to the gallows (1887), he shouted, "The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today." In 1883, he was a leader in the Revolutionary Congress, in Pittsburgh, that launched the International Working People's Association in America.

On May 1, 1886, 350,000 workers went on strike across the U.S. to demand the eight-hour workday. In Chicago, Albert and Lucy Parsons led a peaceful demonstration of 80,000 people down Michigan Avenue. It was the world’s first May Day/International Workers’ Day demonstration—an event that has been celebrated ever since, by nearly every country in the world, except for the U.S. Two days later, August Spies, addressed striking workers at the McCormick Reaper factory. Chicago Police and Pinkertons attacked the crowd, killing at least one person. On May 4, anarchists organized a demonstration at Haymarket Square to protest that police violence. The police ordered the protesters to disperse. Somebody threw a bomb, which killed at least one cop. The police opened fire, killing another seven workers. Six police also died, likely from “friendly fire” by other cops. The authorities went on a witch hunt, rounding up most of the city’s leading anarchists and radical labor leaders, including Albert Parsons and August Spies. They executed four of them in 1887, including Parsons and Spies.

Read more about the Haymarket affair here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #AugustSpies #haymarket #EightHourDay #execution #deathpenalty #prison #Revolution

Today in Labor History December 9, 1869: The Knights of Labor was founded in Philadelphia as a secret society open to all members of the working class. They specifically barred bankers, land speculators, lawyers, liquor dealers and gamblers from membership in their union. The Knights were one of the most important labor organizations of the late 1800s, reaching a membership of 700,000 by 1886. One of their first early successes was their strike against J. Gould’s Wabash Railroad. In addition to walking off the job, they occupied company buildings and sabotaged the tracks and equipment. While other unions were fighting for a 10-hour work day, the Knights were demanding an 8-hour day, as well as an end to child and convict labor. They were also one of the earliest labor organizations to accept blacks and women, and one of the first organized by industry, rather than craft. 50 African American sugarcane workers, organized by the Knights, were murdered by white scabs in the 1887 Thibodaux massacre. Their motto was “An Injury to One is the Concern of All.” Yet they also supported the Chinese Exclusion Act and participated in anti-Chinese riots, including one in Tacoma, Washington (1885) in which they expelled all the Chinese from town (at the time, 10% of the city’s population), as well as the Rock Springs massacre, in Wyoming (1885), which killed scores of Chinese. Support for the Knights quickly waned following the repression in the wake of the Haymarket Affair.

The KOL attracted and spawned many radicals, including Daniel DeLeon. He went on to cofound the IWW and the Socialist Labor Party. Two of the Haymarket martyrs were also KOL members. The KOL also denounced strikes. However, like its more radical cousin, the IWW, it called for the abolition of the wage system. And like the IWW, fought to organize all workers into one big union, including women and immigrants. In 1890, they merged with another union to form the United Mine Workers.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #union #strike #knightsoflabor #racism #Riot #AntiAsianHate #haymarket #eighthourday #IWW

Today in Labor History December 6, 1889: The trial of the Chicago Haymarket anarchists began amidst national and international outrage and protest. None of the men on trial had even been at Haymarket Square when the bomb was set off. They were on trial because of their anarchist political affiliations and their labor organizing for the 8-hour work-day. 4 were ultimately executed, including Albert Parsons, husband of future IWW founding member Lucy Parsons. One, Louis Ling, cheated the hangman by committing suicide in his cell. The Haymarket Affairs is considered the origin of International Workers Day, May 1st, celebrated in virtually every country in the world, except for the U.S., where the atrocity occurred. Historically, it was also considered the culmination of the Great Upheaval, a series of strike waves and labor unrest that began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, 1877, and spread throughout the U.S., including the Saint Louis Commune, when communists took over and controlled the city for several days. Over 100 workers were killed across the U.S. in the weeks of strikes and protests. Communists and anarchists also organized strikes in Chicago, where police killed 20 men and boys. Albert and Lucy Parsons participated and were influenced by these events. I write about this historical period in my Great Upheaval Trilogy.

The first book in this series, Anywhere But Schuylkill, is available from Historium Press. Check it out here: https://www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/hp-authors/michael-dunn.

Or send $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!

You read my full article about Lucy Parsons and the Haymarket Affair here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

And my full article about the Great Upheaval here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #haymarket #anarchism #IWW #strike #union #solidarity #riot #police #policebrutality #chicago #EightHourDay #greatupheaval #AnywhereButSchuylkill #historicalfiction #hisfic #books #novel #author #writer @bookstadon

Today in Labor History November 10, 1887: Chicago Haymarket martyr Louis Lingg, 22, “cheated” the state the day before his scheduled execution by committing suicide in his prison cell. He exploded a dynamite cap in his mouth. It took him 6 painful hours to die. Using his own blood, he wrote "Hoch die anarchie!" (Hurrah for anarchy!) on the stones of his cell. In 1893, Illinois Governor John Altgeld granted Lingg a posthumous pardon because he, and his 7 codefendants were actually all innocent of the Haymarket bombing. None of them had even been present at Haymarket square when the bomb was thrown. All 8 were, however, anarchists, and were railroaded because of the political beliefs and affiliations.

On May 1, 1886, 350,000 workers went on strike across the U.S. to demand the eight-hour workday. It was the world’s first May Day/International Workers’ Day demonstration—an event that has been celebrated ever since, by nearly every country in the world, except for the U.S. Two days later, another anarchist, August Spies, addressed striking workers at the McCormick Reaper factory. Chicago Police and Pinkertons attacked the crowd, killing at least one person. On May 4, anarchists organized a demonstration at Haymarket Square to protest that police violence. The police ordered the protesters to disperse. Somebody threw a bomb, which killed at least one cop. The police opened fire, killing another seven workers. Six police also died, likely from “friendly fire” by other cops. The authorities, in their outrage, went on a witch hunt, rounding up most of the city’s leading anarchists and radical labor leaders, including Albert Parsons, Louis Lingg and August Spies.

Read my article on Lucy Parsons and the Haymarket affair here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

#laborhistory #WorkingClass #haymarket #anarchism #prison #deathpenalty #EightHourDay #chicago #police #policebrutality #lucyparsons #louislingg