What is May Day?

This is the text from a May Day 2009 leaflet handed out during the parade. We look to define it more and make May Day in Richmond more issue driven, all the while keeping it simple and not too wordy. We'll save the words for workshops and speakers.

May Day! Workers of the World Unite!*

This is our day! International Workers Day! Our day to recognize and appreciate the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. The struggle began in 1884 when the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions passed a resolution that would enact an eight-hour workday beginning on May 1, 1886. On May 4th, 1886 during a general strike for the eight hour day in Chicago, police fired on strikers and killed a dozen people in what has become known as the Haymarket Massacre. In 1890, Labor activists, Leftists, Socialists and Anarchists began celebrating May 1 as the International Worker's Holiday to achieve "...the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, the class demands of the proletariat, and universal peace."

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES TODAY!

With the specter of a market free of government regulation that reaches far beyond the familiar borders of the United States, there is a need, more than ever, for a labor movement that demands for the rights of working people, and holds accountable the government and corporations for the injustices that we are forced to endure at the mercy of the wealthy.

Passion is abounding in all of us, we each have a cause we're committed to, but how does that passion relate to the struggles of others?

Although the years have passed, the struggle is still the same and affects every facet of the community. From the office worker in a business suit to the construction worker in coveralls, no one has been left untouched. Corporate greed permeates every aspect of our lives as workers are laid off without benefits and left to fight to save their homes from foreclosure. The racist attacks of hate groups in the 1950s and 60s have morphed into legislation attacking immigrant and migrant workers.

The economy has reached all time lows and workers are left to fend for themselves with few solutions. Recognizing our similarities rather than differences, we are united around the core principle that we must link arms and fight back in the spirit of those that came before us in a true display of solidarity.

This May Day we wish to demonstrate the presence of a labor movement in Richmond that is ready to fight for the multitude of injustices in our communities. We wish to join together individuals and organizations who will stand in solidarity with one another, for social justice, freedom and equality! If you share this sentiment, please join in our celebration.

In Solidarity,
Yours Truly