Illustration Haymarkt Riot in Chicago T. de Tulter
(Getti)
On the evening of May 4, 1886, the thunderstorm clouds gathered at a rally on the Haimarket Square in Chicago. Most of the workers have already gone home to win the rain and 1000 left. The mood was tense. Police, who killed four attackers the day before, is delighted with the last speech.
Just when the man was going to finish the stage, the police ordered the workers to disperse, and then moved to the crowd. The home bomb exploded, immediately killed one officer and injured another. Police released into the crowd, as some armed workers replied.
In the following days, police illegally conducted a search in homes and union halls, arresting hundreds when the press nominated them. Eight anarchist activists were charged with planning a bombing. After the trial, which was rigged by the judge and the prosecutor, to ensure the conviction, six of them were hanged: Albert Parsans, August Spies, Adolf Fisher, George Engel, Michael Schwab and Samuel Filane.
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The events in Chicago have defeated a national strike for an eight -hour day, which began on May 1 and brought 340,000 workers on the street. The strike is inspired Day of international workersWhich has since been celebrated around the world. In decades, the martyrs of the Senation had their testimony: in 1938, the 40-hour week was recorded in a law with the law on fair standards.
Unlike the violent half a century of battles for an eight -hour day and five days, eight decades since 1938 has not brought any broad reduction in working time. Today, almost 140 years later, the events of May 1886 are talking about the demand, which finally gains strength among American workers: four days of work for five days of payment.
“We believe A working cornersaid Nation. “Since 2022 more than 200 The companies saw a 32-hour working week in areas such as healthcare, production and hospitality, “experiencing great abbreviations of resignation and absenteeism, as well as increased revenue.
According to Redy, Workfour supports the case on many fronts, “the organization of workers through grassroots sections, the support of trade unions in contract battles, the creation of public pressure on legislation and partner staff with employers are ready to lead an example.” The volunteer organization is considered to be each transition for a four -day week as a victory, be it the health of behavioral net In Indiana, Colorado departmentEither crowdfunding -gantin Kickstarter.
But the five-day week still has an inertia on its side. In Our own timePublished in 1989, Philip Fonner and David Rodiger wrote that “forty hours appears to have become almost sacred as the lower limit for the working week.” And even if they are open for a four -day week, executives must make sure it will advocate or growth Performance.
In the 1880s, labor leaders believed that an eight-hour day was one of the only requirements that could combine all the workers, and today the four-day week is supported four five Workers. Demand can also resort to many workers who have irregular schedules, do not work or work in the economy of concerts. According to Reddy from Workfour, the transition on a four -day week can create more stable, full -time positions and expand access to benefits for workers who currently work less than full -time.
Initially, the strike in May 1886 was planned by qualified traders who could afford to reduce the salary in shorter hours. The organizers quickly realized that it was unacceptable for poor workers, so demand became more radical: eight hours of work in 10 hours. Until the 1880s, there were some states with eight-hour law, but they were virtually un-consistent. In the end, eight-hour activists went to Washington to propose a federal law that was refused the president, which stated that it would be unconstitutional (the position that the Supreme Court kept until the 1930s).
The workers also fought for eight hours with smaller blows and negotiations. However, the demand was a violator of transactions for employers who believed that having less working hours would put them in competitive damage. This finally led to the idea of a common strike that seemed the only other option.
In 1886, the strike was organized by two relatively small organizations that failed to conquer the support of 700,000 knights of work, whose leadership opposed the blows. Although many local sections were signed, the coalition, including national knights, could change the result of the strike.
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Today, labor laws are widely adopted and implemented, so the legislation can be a viable approach. According to Workfour winning victories, some businesses are now open to the transition to a four -day week, showing that businesses such as collective talks have potential. But for some as president Afa-Cwa Sarah NelsonThe general strike remains the most powerful weapon of workers, which can be used to pressure either the government or the enterprises.
Fighting for a four -day week will eventually be in the hands of young generations. However, there are currently no youth organizations focused on this issue, and major players, such as young democratic Socialists of America and the Rising Movement, do not include it in their platforms. Carlos Kalekho III, National Chairman of the YDSA, explains that they are “traditionally focused on campus issues” such as campus shrines, protecting LGBTK+ students and fighting privatization. After a recent turning point to the “mass organizational orientation”, the YDSA headed the creation of students’ unions, “putting the basis for future unions around healthy requirements as a four -day working week.”
Jules M. – a student worker and organizer of trade unions in Oregon. From the experience of organizing student students, the four-day week did not emerge as demand. “The student who is fighting for paying products or rent is likely to turn first to wages before the four -day work week.” However, it repeats Callejo, concluding that the organization of work on the campus will help build power to win “broader requirements”.
Although only a small part of US enterprises has accepted a shorter schedule, Reddie still believes that we are building a turning point. “Social changes often feel slowly as long as it happens immediately.” And, like an eight -hour day before it, the four -day week will not be the end of history. According to Jamie McCulum in Worked“The temporary aspect of work (this) point of fundamental conflict in the capitalist society … When we sleep, eat, raise children, spend time with friends, admiring the sunlight, or take vacations, dictated by those who control our work.” So we can expect more fight in the future when employees are fighting for less work and more free time – and a little more of their lives belong to them.
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