The Coronavirus has put a cramp on May Day 2020

By SJ Otto

Each year I do something to celebrate May Day, the international day of working people. Some years we have a pot luck dinner. Some years we have a march or parade. This year a lot has been changed due to the Coronavirus and the lockdown of our people and businesses in Kansas. There have been protests against the lock down by irrespsonsible right-wing people who care only about themselves. I am 65 years old and I have diabetes. That puts me in a category where I can easily die from the virus. So I have a good reason not to expose myself to that virus. When I go out in public I wear my bandana that I got when I visited El Salvador. It is red with a white star and it says “fmln” (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front).

On years I have had no planned activities, I go to Kirby’s are a different bar and hoist a few beers just to honour this day. This year I can’t go anywhere. The lockdown for Kansas may be over this Monday, which is May 4. According to Denver’s Channel 7:

“According to The Hill, Kansas' "Stay At Home" order expires on May 3. Gov. Laura Kelly says she plans to extend that order through May 14.”

So far I have not planned anything this year. I have not heard from either the Peace and Social Justice Center of South Central Kansas or the local Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). We can only hope that we get more accomplished next year at this time.

For a brief history of this day we have:

About 135 years ago, thousands of workers, mostly immigrants, took to the streets of Chicago in the United States, unfurling the claim of an eight-hour work day in protest against the overexploitation and oppression they were subjected to. They fought the forces of repression and several shed their blood in the combative struggles for the labor claim and the liberation of the class. On May 1, 1886, the trade union organizations agreed that the workers should impose the eight-hour day and close the doors of any factory that did not join. The eight-hour demand would turn, from an economic claim of the workers against their immediate bosses, into a political claim from one class against another. 

The leaflet that circulated in Chicago in 1885 already called for:

"A day of rebellion, not a day of rest! One day not ordered by the arrogant mouthpieces of the institutions that have handcuffed the workers! A day when the worker makes his own laws and has the power to execute them! All without the consent or approval of those who oppress and rule. One day, with tremendous strength, the united army of workers will mobilize against those who today dominate the destiny of the peoples of all nations. A day of protest against oppression and tyranny, against ignorance and wars of all kinds. One day to start enjoying eight hours of work, eight hours of rest and eight hours for whatever we please. "

The Brief Origins of May Day (From IWW)

By Eric Chase - 1993.

Most people living in the United States know little about the International Workers' Day of May Day. For many others there is an assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in state communist countries like Cuba or the former Soviet Union. Most Americans don't realize that May Day has its origins here in this country and is as "American" as baseball and apple pie, and stemmed from the pre-Christian holiday of Beltane, a celebration of rebirth and fertility.

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.

At this time, socialism was a new and attractive idea to working people, many of whom were drawn to its ideology of working class control over the production and distribution of all goods and services. Workers had seen first-hand that Capitalism benefited only their bosses, trading workers' lives for profit. Thousands of men, women and children were dying needlessly every year in the workplace, with life expectancy as low as their early twenties in some industries, and little hope but death of rising out of their destitution. Socialism offered another option.

A variety of socialist organizations sprung up throughout the later half of the 19th century, ranging from political parties to choir groups. In fact, many socialists were elected into governmental office by their constituency. But again, many of these socialists were ham-strung by the political process which was so evidently controlled by big business and the bi-partisan political machine. Tens of thousands of socialists broke ranks from their parties, rebuffed the entire political process, which was seen as nothing more than protection for the wealthy, and created anarchist groups throughout the country. Literally thousands of working people embraced the ideals of anarchism, which sought to put an end to all hierarchical structures (including government), emphasized worker controlled industry, and valued direct action over the bureaucratic political process. It is inaccurate to say that labor unions were "taken over" by anarchists and socialists, but rather anarchists and socialist made up the labor unions.

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