At the beginning of the 20th century, May 1st became an international symbol of the fight for workers' rights.
In Serbia it is a national holiday and people are celebrating it by organizing many-people-picnic-parties somewhere in the nature, usually gathered around barbecues with lot of meat :D.
This year, due to the curfew, it was not like that, just modest home parties :(
How all that started?
For many years workers were fighting for eight-hour working hours. At a major convention in October 1884, the American Federation of Trade and Labor Unions decided to set a date on which eight-hour working days would become standard. It has been decided that May 1st 1886. would be that day.
So, huge marches of tens of thousands of workers were organized in cities all around the country. The main march with more than 80,000 people was organized in Chicago. It lasted for several days and was peaceful until on the third day an incident occurred in front of the McCormick factory. The layoffs of the McCormick workers clashed in front of the factory gate, after which 400 policemen walked out of the factory and fired into the crowd, resulting with 6 killed protesters. Angry over police violence, anarchists have organized a large gathering a day later, in Hymarket, which at first was very peaceful and then someone threw a bomb at the police and killed one policemen (btw identity of that person was never discovered; strange, isn.t it?).
After that, police opened fire on workers and few armed protesters responded. During this “blitzkrieg” at Hymarket Square police officers did not shot only at workers but also each other. Dozens of protestors and 7 policemen were killed, many more injured. The exact number of killed protesters has not been established (another strange thing?).
After the Hymarket Massacre, eight anarchist leaders were arrested and put to a trial that became known in history as one of the most obviously mounted political processes.
The protest that happened around the world on May 1st 1890, was the result of an agreement from the first congress of the Second International in Paris in 1889. where communist parties and trade unions from around the world decided to organize universal workers" strike of 8 hours duration.
Results of those events came much later, in a form of basic workers` rights: 8 hours of work, the right to personal income, the right to holidays, the right to pension and social security.
How those rights are being respected around the world, we can see all over Internet and feel on our own skin. :angry: