Gurpreet Singh

In July, I had an opportunity to visit a Chicago historic site, where those who had laid down their lives in 1886 in the fight for the right to work for eight hours a day.

Known as the Haymarket produce district, a permanent memorial greets visitors at the place where a bomb was thrown at a meeting organized by the workers, leaving seven policemen and four civilians dead. It remains unknown who was behind the attack, while the meeting was being addressed by speakers from atop a wagon.

However, four participants were hanged to death, including two organizers and two speakers, while one activist died in custody.

The event left a permanent mark on the workers’ history across the world. May 1 is observed as the international workers’ day since then. India, the country of my birth, also celebrates this day with a lot of enthusiasm.

The memorial bears the names and pictures of the slain workers, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, August Spies, Albert Parsons, and Louis Lingg.

One of the plaques reads, “Imagine one world, one voice, a global union”

Ironically, the history of May Day has its roots in the bloody events of Chicago, and yet North Americans holds Labour Day on the first Monday of September, which many see as an attempt to maintain a distance from the Communist movement.

I am really blessed to be one of those who could make it to Haymarket memorial with my wife Rachna and two children. On that note, I would like to recognize that it was Rachna, who introduced me to this important piece of history we should be aware of.

Being born in a family of committed leftists, and a former trade unionist, who is now a minister in the BC NDP government which has close ties to the labour movement, she has a great influence on me. She makes sure to buy services from businesses where the workforce is unionized and does not miss an opportunity to go to the cashier at stores rather than vending machines to make any purchase so that their jobs are protected.   

This Labour Day weekend, let’s take a moment to remember the heroes of Chicago. We must not take for granted the rights we have today because of their sacrifices. In the current economic liberalisation environment, and with the constant growth of right wing politics, whatever concessions they got for us are in danger of being taken away.   

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