St. Martin

International Workers' Day
1
5

It's already been 111 years since this date was first observed worldwide in due tribute to the longstanding battle of the working people for their demands.The commemoration was first held in Paris to honor the memory of the Chicago Martyrs, a bunch of workers that was dragged to the gallows, charged with demanding an 8-hour working day.In the mid 19th Century, retellers of that moment say, both in Europe and in America, in the emerging industrial factories, workers were forced to accept 12-to-14-hour working days, six days a week, even for children and women in toilsome jobs amid a poisoning and unhealthy environment. European immigrants coming to America in search of a better life, only managed to shake the dregs of the old feudal system off their backs in return for the ferocious appetite of a fledgling Capitalism that was dramatically profiting from the increase of the day’s working hours. Poor British immigrants were the first ever to spread social unrest among their brethren, and they brought to America the struggle they had started back in England for the 8-hour working day.