HAPPY MAY DAY COMRADES

[dcsmart]

The Martyred Apostles of Labor

Written: February, 1898
First Published: The New Time, February, 1898

EUGENE DEBS
The century now closing is luminous with great achievements. In every department of human endeavor marvelous progress has been made. By the magic of the machine which sprang from the inventive genius of man, wealth has been created in fabulous abundance. But, alas, this wealth has been created in fabulous abundance. But, alas, this wealth, instead of blessing the race, has been the means of enslaving it. The few have come in possession of all, and the many have been reduced to the extremity of living by permission.

A few have had the courage to protest. To silence these so that the dead-level of slavery could be maintained has been the demand and command of capital-brown power. Press and pulpit responded with alacrity. All the forces of society were directed against these pioneers of industrial liberty, these brave defenders of oppressed humanity—and against them the crime of the century has been committed.

Albert R. Parsons, August Spies, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg, Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab and Oscar Neebe paid the cruel penalty in prison cell and on the gallows.

They were the first martyrs in the cause of industrial freedom, and one of the supreme duties of our civilization, if indeed we may boast of having been redeemed from savagery, is to rescue their names from calumny and do justice to their memory.
FULL ARTICLE
http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/marxists/archive/debs/works/1898/martyred.htm



The Eight Hour Work Day
Eugene V. Debs

SINCE the early years of the last century when the average work day was at least twelve hours for artisans in New York and other eastern states, efforts have been made by the workers through strikes and otherwise to reduce the length of the working day.

The federal report of the Bureau of Labor, quoted by Sidney Webb in “The Eight Hours Day,” shows that “as early as 1825, the building trades and the ship carpenters and caulkers of New York and other places along the Atlantic coast were striking for a Ten Hours Day,” and that “this movement was thenceforth carried on continuously by them and other trades with frequent strikes.”

From that time to this the struggle has been carried on by the workers, now in one form and now in another, to shorten the working day, and as Dr. Ely points out in his “Labor Movement in America,” “the length of the working day has formed a topic of absorbing interest to the wage-earners of the United States from the very beginning of its industrial history.”

The eight hour day was probably first proposed in England by Robert Owen as early as 1817, “when even children were kept at work in the textile mills for fifteen or sixteen hours a day.” However this may be there has been almost a century of agitation among modern workers for a shorter day, the hours being gradually reduced until now eight hours constitute a dayÕs work in quite a number of skilled and partially skilled trades.

And eight hours is long enough, and even too long, for a day in modern industry, and there is no earthly reason why the work day should be longer. On the contrary, there is every reason why it should be reduced to that in every trade and occupation, and if the right effort is made on the part of the workers within the next year or two the eight hour day can be conquered for every industrial worker in America.

Upon that issue I believe the workers could all be united and brought into harmonious co-operation, not for the eight hour work day alone, but in the wider activities that are required to emancipate them from wage-slavery.
FULL ARTICLE
http://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1911/8hrday.htm

The Brief Origins of May Day


In the late nineteenth century, the working class was in constant struggle to gain the 8-hour work day. Working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work 10 to 16 hour days in unsafe conditions. Death and injury were commonplace at many work places and inspired such books as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Jack London's The Iron Heel. As early as the 1860's, working people agitated to shorten the workday without a cut in pay, but it wasn't until the late 1880's that organized labor was able to garner enough strength to declare the 8-hour workday. This proclamation was without consent of employers, yet demanded by many of the working class.

FULL ARTICLE
http://www.iww.org/projects/mayday/origins.shtml



David Harvey on Class and Class Struggle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhqD3az9cZ4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsocialistwebzine.blogspot.com%2F&feature=player_embedded


The Worker's Maypole
Walter Crane

http://www.marxists.org/subject/mayday/poetry/crane.html


May Day 2009 events worldwide :fistbump:

http://www.marxists.org/subject/mayday/index.htm







International Trade Union Confederation
ITUC May Day Declaration, 2009


The world is facing its gravest economic crisis in over 60 years. Tens of millions of jobs are being lost due to the greed, plunder and incompetence which have, through decades of free market deregulation, led the world into deep recession. Global poverty and inequality are increasing fast, and working women and men everywhere face levels of insecurity unprecedented in recent times.

Trade unions demand far-reaching, urgent and coordinated action to pull the world out of recession. Governments must act to keep people in work and create new jobs, to avoid an even deeper and longer-lasting crisis. These actions are essential, but alone they are not sufficient.

We demand nothing less than a full-scale transformation of the world economy. A new global economy is required, which is built on social justice and which:

• Delivers decent work, with full respect for trade union rights, to all;

• Is based on effective, democratic and accountable global governance which puts the needs of people first;

• Ensures strong financial regulation, putting finance at the service of the real economy and the real economy at the service of people;

• Guarantees respect for the rights of all working people and puts an end to poverty, inequality, discrimination and exploitation; and,

• Secures sustainability though green investment and green jobs.
FULL ARTICLE
http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article3514



Street Dogs ~ There is Power in a Union (SONG)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cehLiGxguQI



Long Live the Workers!
Long Live Revolution!
Long Live the First of May!

An Injury to One is an Injury to All



SONG: The Internationale preformed by Billy Bragg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWMB8xtK1IM&feature=related

[Warpy]

1. If you hadn't posted the Billy Bragg "Internationale"

I would have.

[dcsmart]

2. l hear that in my sleep....LOL

[petronius]

3. Not yet - it's still Camerone Day around here...

:)

[angrycarpenter]

4. K+R

Most Interesting post of the week.

[dcsmart]

6. thanks

[pnorman]

5. The DVD, "Internationale".

Product Description
THE INTERNATIONALE tells the story of a legendary song written in 1871, after the brutal suppression of the Paris Commune, that was soon to be translated and sung in over a hundred languages throughout the world, and become a rallying cry for all the oppressed and exploited people of the world to rise up and overthrow their masters. It takes us on a journey around the world and throughout history - from the Paris Commune to the Soviet Union, from Jamaica to Tiananmen Square - bringing to life the stories of people who have been touched by this emotionally-charged song.

Featuring rare archival footage and performances and interviews with Billy Bragg, Pete Seeger, and others, THE INTERNATIONALE explores the importance of ideals, the fate of the left, and the power of music as a force for change.

http://www.amazon.com/Internationale-Billy-Bragg/dp/B000HXDENK

Going through that DVD last year, I was (pleasantly) surprised to see the Tiananmen demonstrators using that song as a protest symbol against their despotic oppressors. That's what its original purpose was!

I urge all who approve of this thread to order that DVD!

pnorman
On edit: I just realized that May Day is TODAY! I was just in the process of watching another DVD (A&E's "The Men Who Killed Kennedy"), but I'll put it on hold and search out that "Internationale" DVD!

[dcsmart]

7. great info

thanks for the post

[pnorman]

8. You're welcome!

I finally located that "Internationale" DVD! To minimize clutter, I keep all my DVDs in 2-disk cases. Guess what the companion disk was? "EMMA GOLDMAN"!

Also, for an innovative take on the Paris Commune, check out "La Commune": http://www.amazon.com/Commune-Eliane-Annie-Adalto/dp/B000GYI3JA

pnorman

[mdmc]

9. kick for solidarity

[amyrose2712]

10. Just a little Kick up for a comarde. ...

I have been out of commission, in the hospital. All is well. PEACE

[dcsmart]

11. glad to hear you are doing well

i was hoping to hear from you. i have been hogging the SPG with all my posts..LOL...glad to have you back

:toast: