In early 1886 unions
throughout the country fought for an eight hour work day. Work days could be 10
to 12 hours a day. By 1889 the various unions had won the fight for an eight
hour day and a holiday had been established to celebrate this labor victory.
Since that time workers around the world celebrate May 1 as an expression of
their international solidarity and shared political aspirations for the freedom
of working people.
In Wichita, Kansas the Peace & Social Justice Center will celebrate this holiday and its history with speeches, stories, music and a pot luck dinner. The event will be on May 1, from 5 pm to 7:30 pm, at 1407 N. Topeka, Wichita, KS. This May Day celebration has been a tradition for the PSJ Center for several years now.
This holiday is celebrated the world over in many different ways. They include marches and events by labor organizations as well as communist, anarchist and socialist parties. Many older people will remember the military marches held on May Day in the Soviet Union. But what most people didn’t realize is that the holiday started here in the US.
Our government was not content to let the May 1 labor holiday to be celebrated along with Marxists and anarchists, so they changed it to the present day fall holiday we now know as Labor Day. May 1 was turned into Law Day. So the holiday that US labor unions inspired has been turned into a simple celebration of work, with none of the history of the sacrifices and struggles of workers for a just work place.
In Wichita, Kansas the Peace & Social Justice Center will celebrate this holiday and its history with speeches, stories, music and a pot luck dinner. The event will be on May 1, from 5 pm to 7:30 pm, at 1407 N. Topeka, Wichita, KS. This May Day celebration has been a tradition for the PSJ Center for several years now.
This holiday is celebrated the world over in many different ways. They include marches and events by labor organizations as well as communist, anarchist and socialist parties. Many older people will remember the military marches held on May Day in the Soviet Union. But what most people didn’t realize is that the holiday started here in the US.
Our government was not content to let the May 1 labor holiday to be celebrated along with Marxists and anarchists, so they changed it to the present day fall holiday we now know as Labor Day. May 1 was turned into Law Day. So the holiday that US labor unions inspired has been turned into a simple celebration of work, with none of the history of the sacrifices and struggles of workers for a just work place.
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