May Day: Celebrate, Protest and Hide!
by Adriano Contreras | Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Perhaps you’ve heard of International Worker’s Day which is celebrated around the world on May 1st. Here in the United States, most calendars don’t even list this holiday. In fact, a majority of people in this country have no idea that the events that took place at Haymarket Square in 1886 in Chicago, IL was the birth of this day of remembrance, celebration, and protest.

The fight for the eight hour work day was at the center of a struggle between workers and their bosses. Twelve and fourteen hour workdays were common in those days. Labor unions were not to be granted legal status for another 50 years. However, people still organized and fought back. May 3, 1886 in Chicago, a rally was held in response to police violence the day prior. About two hundred workers were met by police officers who beat up workers. A bomb, set off by an unknown person, killed seven people and injured many others. The bosses, with the state and the media on their side framed leading members of the International Working People’s Association, August Spies and Albert Parsons. They were sentenced to death.

Take that example of what the capitalist class was willing to do in order to maintain profits and prevent workers from organizing. This is a classic example of what radical labor fights in the United States look like. When workers pose an actual threat, the bosses use everything at their disposal in order to pose an even bigger threat. And if there is one thing the people at the top of our society are good at, its finding a scapegoat for all the problems they created in order to steal from the very people that create the wealth that fills their pockets. The Chicago newspapers made Spies and Parsons the problem. They were labeled communists and troublemakers for being the most militant workers.

Today, we’ve seen a resurgence of small scale worker’s struggle. In December the factory occupation of Republic Windows and Doors and just yesterday with workers at Hartmarx deciding to sit-in. Since the days of the Haymarket square though, worker’s in the United States have made significant gains: shorter work day (although not short enough still), a minimum wage (though not a living wage), the right to collectively bargain, and much more.

One thing that has not changed is the scapegoating of immigrant labor as the problem to deflect attention from worker’s struggles or distract people from the rest of the agenda of the ruling class. Immigrants have no right to form a union and very basic rights as people in the United States. Many live their days hiding if not working for nearly 10 – 12 hours almost everyday of the week. They’re labor is considered sub-human and is justified by the below minimum wage they receive.

In 2006, after a wave of anti-immigrant ranting in the corporate media and continuous deportations, millions of immigrants around the country did not go to work and took to the streets demanding better wages, amnesty, and more. It single-handedly put International Worker’s Day back on the map.
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Although the numbers have not been as large since, people are still protesting. Last week in Rochester, NY nearly 80 people marched through downtown Rochester in protest of the deportation and intimidation of the Border Patrol and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

I spoke with a farm worker named Sylvia, after the march in Rochester during a potluck dinner, about life as an undocumented worker in this country. Sylvia works outside of Rochester. She says its gotten to the point where ICE agents are waiting outside the Catholic church to pick up people and process them for deportation. Church attendance is low these days.

The police are working with ICE in the next town over by calling in people they find on routine stops. Sylvia says she feared she’d be deported for certain one night because her car’s muffler was being dragged against the road. The muffler had fallen off from constant driving in muddy and grassy terrain. She drove it to the farm and often time took back roads to get home. Fortunately for her, the officer that stopped her didn’t report her and let her go. He demanded she get it fixed or next time be faced with a ticket. Sylvia couldn’t afford to fix it so she no longer uses the car.

The psychological toll is noted. She is very quiet and very worried. That’s the case for many undocumented workers who would rather stay indoors than risk being picked up by ICE or who fear they may be reported if they go to the emergency room. They hide while their bosses swim in profits.

We need to create a worker’s movement in this country that can fight back and challenge that. A movement that takes on immigrant’s rights, because non-immigrant workers benefit too if immigrants standard of living is raised. We also need to fight the racism, sexism and homophobia they use to keep us We need to get unionized, demand equal pay and marriage benefits for all, and challenge the billions of tax dollars they waste on their wars of aggression. We need a movement that can challenge the Republican’s assault on immigrants and their ridiculous guest-worker’s program. As well as holding the Democrats and Obama accountable for their promises and actions. A movement that can fight back the raids and ICE for their dehumanizing and criminal tactics.

International Worker’s Day, is our day to celebrate and protest. Not to hide. It’s our day to remember and remind them that this country was built on immigrant labor. But only if we get organized in our workplaces, in our communities, can we win the changes that are long over due.

Tags: Border Patrol, immigrants, May Day, NYC Labor Against the War, workers

3:10 pm. Activism, Politics.