A-Infos (en) Brazil, OSL, Libera #182 - 'CHICAGO MARTYRS' GAVE RISE TO THE DATE (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

International Working Class Day has its origins in the workers' 
struggles in Chicago, United States, in the late 19th century, with a 
strong anarchist presence. The city was an industrial hub at the time, 
with long workdays, reaching 60 hours per week. In the 1880s, the 
proposal to reduce the workday to 8 hours gained momentum - a measure 
already advocated by the International Workingmen's Association (IWA) 
since its first congress in 1866. In 1884, a convention involving 
several US unions established May 1, 1886, as a day of struggle for an 
8-hour workday.

On that date, it is estimated that up to half a million workers went on 
strike in the US. Tens of thousands of people took to the street 
demonstrations, with Chicago being the main city. The strike continued, 
and a second protest was held in Chicago on May 3rd. On that day, police 
opened fire on protesters, killing four workers and injuring several 
others. In response to the violence, a new protest was called for the 
evening of May 4th. On the day that became known as the Haymarket Riot, 
anarchists August Spies, Albert Parsons, and Samuel Fielden were 
addressing the crowd. Around 10:30 p.m., police advanced, and a bomb was 
thrown in their direction. A gunfight ensued between police and 
protesters, resulting in deaths on both sides.

The state singled out anarchists as scapegoats. Spies, Parsons, and 
Fielden were arrested, along with Adolph Fischer, Michael Schwab, George 
Engel, Louis Lingg, and Oscar Neebe-some of whom were not even present 
at the Haymarket Square protest. Engel, Fischer, Parsons, and Spies were 
sentenced to death by hanging - Lingg, also sentenced to death, 
committed suicide before the execution. Fielden and Schwab had their 
death sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Neebe was sentenced to 15 
years in prison. Years later, the three were pardoned by the Illinois 
government. The eight would become known as the "Chicago Martyrs."
The struggles for the eight-hour workday intensified in the following 
years. In 1889, the Second International declared May Day as 
International Working Class Day, calling on sections around the world to 
hold demonstrations for an eight-hour workday.
In Brazil, the first May Day demonstrations took place in the early 
1890s, in cities such as São Paulo, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, and Porto 
Alegre, led by anarchists and socialists. In the decades that followed, 
May 1st would gain importance in Brazil and around the world as a day of 
struggle and remembrance. Recovering the origins of this history is 
essential at a time when the date is celebrated by employers and 
governments in an attempt to remove the day's combative character.

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