About International Labor Day in China

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May 1st is International Labor Day, an official holiday in over 80 countries including China and Mexico.

International Labor Day remembers the Haymarket Martyrs in Chicago in 1886.

It was 1886 when the workers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in Chicago went on strike. The farm equipment manufacturing factory had begun mechanizing, putting the highly skilled metal workers out of work. Those remaining when on strike to demand an eight-hour workday. In the 1880s, workers typically worked 60-hours a week. In response, the company locked out the workers and hired scabs.

On May 1, 1886, a large May Day parade was held in Chicago. On May 3, a riot at the factory saw two men killed by the police. This lead to a mass rally in Haymarket Square the following night.

For most of the rally it was a peaceful event, with over 1500 people in attendance. After the last speaker, the police tried to break up the crowd. The crowd resisted and someone set off a bomb. The violence escalated. Police began firing into the crowd. Seven policemen and four protesters were killed and over 100 injured.

The riot was blamed on the labor movement and its leaders referred to as anarchists. In June 1886 the leaders were brought to trial and seven were sentenced to death, despite it never being proved who threw the bomb. 2 would later have their sentences commuted to life.

The aftermath of Haymarket put unions in a negative light but it lead to the formation of the American Federation of Labor, (AFL) which would take the drive to unionize into the 20th Century.

Today May 1st is internationally recognized as Labor Day or Workers Day in over 80 countries. Some like the United States have a separate holiday set aside. For China this is a major state holiday that may move dates if May first falls on a Tuesday-Thursday. This is so people can enjoy a three-day weekend. in order to take a 3-day weekend.