By John Leschak
Today, hundreds of millions of people all around the world will be celebrating the accomplishments of organized labor. May 1, also known as May Day, or International Workers’ Day, is an official holiday in 66 countries and unofficially celebrated in many more. Although May Day originated in the U.S., it is not an official holiday here. The lack of governmental recognition of May Day says a lot about America’s dark and violent labor history as well as the current deterioration of working conditions here.
The first May Day took place in the United States on May 1, 1886, when over 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the country walked out on their jobs to protest their terrible working conditions. In the 1880s, the average American worker labored 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week, for low wages and in dangerous conditions. However, the first May Day protest was the start of a new movement of organized labor unions. This labor movement led to the creation of the 8-hour work-day, the minimum wage and workplace health and safety regulations.
These accomplishments were not obtained easily. According to the eminent labor historian Philip Taft, the U.S. has the “bloodiest and most violent labor history of any industrial nation in the world.” In a book on political repression in America, historian Robert Goldstein estimated that at least 700 unionists and labor activists were killed by police or military troops between 1870 and 1937. This anti-union violence was sanctioned by the American government. The government also tried to prohibit May Day celebrations, and instead established an alternative “Labor Day” in September.
Today, the rights gained by the courageous sacrifices of nineteenth and early twentieth century unionists are in danger of being undone by the government. Bush’s Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, has attacked workers’ rights by gutting safety regulations, promoting a big business agenda and opposing unions.
Since her appointment to Bush’s cabinet in 2001, Chao has cut 100 safety officers from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). As a result of these staff reductions, the MSHA failed to conduct safety inspections of over 100 mines. Therefore, it is no surprise that there has been a huge increase in mine fatality rates under Chao, including the Sago Mine explosion in West Virginia and Utah’s Crandall Canyon Mine cave-in. Chao has also allowed companies to avoid buying safety gear, instead requiring workers to pay for their own equipment. According to statistics from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, this policy has led to over 400,000 worker injuries and 50 deaths! Chao also supported legislation that, if passed, would have stripped millions of workers of eligibility for overtime pay.
The government’s attempts to undo the gains of the American labor movement are occurring in the context of the globalization of capitalism. Globalization has created a “race to the bottom,” as businesses in the first-world lower work standards to compete with the lower labor costs of competitors in the third-world. Labor costs are much lower in the third-world because of government oppression of unions, which prevents workers from organizing and demanding higher wages. For instance, in Colombia more than 2,500 union members have been killed since 1985. Most of these killings are carried out by paramilitary death squads with links to the members of the conservative government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Despite Colombia’s record of violence against organized labor, Bush attempted to force Congress to approve a free-trade bill with Colombia. On April 11, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to let the bill come to the House floor for a vote because of Colombia’s anti-union violence.
American workers should be concerned over working conditions in Colombia and all over the world. May Day is also known as International Workers Day for a reason-capitalism is an international system and the living standards of American workers are now intrinsically tied to those of their foreign counterparts. International solidarity is required to improve the situation of workers anywhere. Today, American workers enjoy extensive benefits and legal protections thanks to the courageous efforts of ordinary working men and women who stood up to robber barons and greedy businesses. However, freedom is not free and working people all over the world need to stand up now to protect and extend their rights.
John Leschak is a first-year law student. You may e-mail him at [email protected].
