Friday, 29 April 2005
Origins of May Day
The origins of May Day can be traced to the general strike in 1856 of Australian workers in support of an 8-hour working day. People, including children, used to work up to 18 hours a day for 6 days a week. They received very low wages and worked in extremely dangerous conditions.
So it was decided to organize a national general strike to unite workers in Australia around the demand for a shorter working day and better conditions. The strike took place on 21 April 1856. It was so successful that it was decided to make it an annual event. It fizzled out in Australia – but it caught the imagination of the American working class.
Workers in America had initially agitated for legislative reform for an 8-hour working day – and in 1868 a law was passed to this effect. But employers refused to implement it. They said it would encourage “loafing, gambling, rioting, debauchery and drunkenness” and mean lower wages and greater poverty!
So the 1884 congress of the Federation of Organised Trade and Labour Unions decided a national general strike for an 8-hour day would take place on 1 May 1886. 350 000 American workers in 11 562 workplaces downed tools. They marched in colourful processions and sang. They smoked “8 hour tobacco” and wore “8 hour shoes” – tobacco and shoes produced by workers who had already won the 8 hour demand. And the slogan they chanted was “8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, 8 hours for what we will!”
About 185 000 of the workers on strike won their demand immediately. A further 2 million or so had their working day reduced to 9 or 10 hours.
So the strike was very successful. But at a cost. Confrontations between strikers and police in Chicago led to 6 people being killed and scores injured. Labour leaders were put on trial. Four were sentenced to death. Others were imprisoned for lengthy periods.
The events surrounding May 1886 echoed around the world. They were of enormous significance to the working class internationally. Hence at the founding congress of the Second International in Paris in 1889 it was resolved to “organize a great international demonstration so that in all countries and in all cities on our appointed day, the toiling masses shall demand of the state authorities the legal reduction of the working day to 8 hours”. 1 May 1890 was the date chosen.
1 May was also important from medieval times as the traditional celebration of the beginning of spring. There were annual rites to ensure the fertility of the crops and street processions on this day. From 1890 onwards 1 May took on a new significance internationally – May Day or International Labour Day.
May Day came to symbolize the unity of the working class. It came to be the day on which workers re-dedicated themselves to their cause for better working conditions and a greater say in society. May Day has also been used as a platform to put demands to the state, not just employers. On May Day workers came together in street processions, meetings, cultural, sport and other leisure activities.
May Day has become a public holiday in many countries. In some countries it is observed on the first Monday or Friday in May. In America, where May Day was put on the map, a Labour Day is observed on the first Monday in September each year. The meaning given to May Day has changed over time. In most countries, its traditional significance has been lost. The significance and activities of May Day have, of course, also been shaped by the specific conditions of each country.
History of May Day in South Africa
May Day was first celebrated in South Africa in 1904 by White workers in Market Square, Johannesburg. They had come from Europe with experience of the labour traditions there. Two meetings were held. One in English, and the other in French, German and Russian. The fiery, if small, meeting ended with a resolution calling for the establishment of a “ co-operative commonwealth” and “representative government in the Transvaal”.
May Day was celebrated in Cape Town in 1906 and Durban in 1909, where a strike by railway workers created a militant mood. Over 5000 people marched. There was a call for support for the strikers and resolutions on high prices, child labour, lack of political representation and unemployment.
It was towards the end of World War 1, with the formation of the International Socialist League(ISL) , the forerunner of the Communist Party, that May Day began to be regularly observed. Until then it was an exclusively White affair. In 1917, the ISL invited Horatio Mbhele, an articled clerk active in the ANC, to speak at a May Day meeting.
Usually, there were two May Day meetings – one of White workers, and the other of Black workers, with a sprinkling of Whites. It was curious how the Whites-only meetings would carry the most pious resolutions on international working class solidarity and yet exclude Black workers from attending!
Despite their conservatism, White workers identified with May Day. In 1919 a large procession marched through Johannesburg. With the mine and municipal workers on strike, the whole of Johannesburg came to appreciate May Day. White workers put pressure for May Day to be declared a holiday. In 1926 a Bill was introduced to parliament proposing a holiday, not on 1 May, but the first Monday in May. But workers protested – and the Bill was dropped.
But sections of the workers did get May Day off through negotiations with employers. Several Industrial Council agreements allowed for this.
With the growth of trade unions among Black workers in the late 20s, the non-racial May Day celebrations often overshadowed the White-only affairs. The conditions of recession and unemployment in the 30s provided a basis for united May Day celebrations. In 1936 in Johannesburg for the first time a genuinely representative and non-racial celebration was organised. It was the 40s that saw the most elaborate may Day celebrations. A complete May Day programme would include a procession through the streets and a public rally in the morning; followed by a picnic and spots events; and a concert or dance in the evening. The Garment Workers Union would hold a May Day picnic and choose a May Queen.
This is how the May Day Committee of 1937 saw May Day: “May Day is not only a day of international struggle for the 8 hour day; on this day the workers in every country demonstrate their will and desire for political and economic emancipation. It is the day on which he working class reviews its forces, records the lessons of the past, prepares for the tasks ahead, and re-affirms the inspiring pledge of international solidarity”.
One of the most consistent calls at the non-racial May Day celebrations was for a non-racial democracy. The 1939 May Day rally, for example, opposed proposals to “segregate the workers on the grounds of race and colour” and urged the government to “recognize the non-European people as citizens of this country and extend to them the necessary democratic rights to ensure their political and economic upliftment”.
The 1950 May Day celebrations was perhaps one of the most significant. The ANC, Natal Indian Congress, Transvaal Indian Congress and Communist Party called for a mass stayaway and demonstrations against the Suppression of Communism Bill. The call was also in support of better wages and working conditions. Despite enormous opposition from the state and employers, there was a huge stayaway. At least 10 000 people in Durban and 6000 in Cape Town took part in marches.
There were severe confrontations between the police and the people. Eighteen people were killed and 30 seriously wounded. May Day took on a new meaning. A Day of Mourning was called for 26 June. The increasing repression of the 50s, however, ruled out large May Day celebrations. The non-racial trade union movement kept the tradition alive in small meetings. White workers stopped observing May Day from the late 40s. With the severe repression of the 60s, May Day largely ceased to be observed.
May Day Tradition Revived
It was with the emergence of the new unions that May Day began to be observed again in the early 80s. In 1982 small groups of workers in scattered parts of the country met to observe May Day. 1983 saw unions in several parts of the country organize meetings.
In 1984 most of the new unions and the united Democratic Front organised meetings. In Cape Town about 5000 people attended 3 meetings. In Johannesburg lunch-time meetings and rallies over weekends were attended by several thousand people.
It was in 1984 that the unions first raised the demand for May Day to be a public holiday – and it was in that year that the Chemical Workers Union became the first union to negotiate time-off with Pilkington Glass in the Eastern Cape.
In 1985 unions much more assertively put a May Day holiday on the agenda of negotiations with employers. Several unions were able to get a half day off. But many workers simply took the day off and attended rallies. Unions began to put pressure for a state public holiday. The target was 1 May 1996 – the hundredth anniversary of May Day! The formation of COSATU in December 1985 gave impetus to this. Employer bodies and community organizations supported the unions demand.
May Day 1986 turned out to be remarkable. Over 2 million workers stayed away from work! They were joined by about a million youth and others in the community. About 200 000 people attended rallies all over the country. Even P W Botha’s government could not remain immune. Initially, they offered the first Friday in May as a public holiday – but the unions rejected this. They said that workers were not looking for a long weekend but to celebrate May Day specifically. They said that just as it would not be acceptable to celebrate Christmas on the third Friday in December, they could not celebrate May Day on the first Friday in May! The government gave in - and 1 May became a public holiday!
Challenges facing the workers today
We are celebrating this May Day in the wake of many progressive changes that have taken place in our country since the 1994 democratic breakthrough. We must be proud of the fact that we have stabilised our democracy, and have seen many resource transfers to the poor (electricity connection, clean drinking water, social grants, housing, etc).
Most importantly we have seen the passing of many progressive labour laws that protect workers’ rights, including the right to belong to trade unions, the right to strike and basic conditions of employment.
However, the continuing retrenchment and casualisation of workers is a source for serious concern. Our democracy has done a lot for capitalism and the capitalist class, but capitalism is failing our democracy through its refusal to invest adequately in job creation and the continuing job loss bloodbath.
Fighting against job losses is a priority struggle for the workers of our country. The SACP will throw its full weight behind you to fight job losses. COSATU is proposing a strike in protest against these, and the SACP will join COSATU and fully support such a strike.
The most critical challenge is that it is the working class that is best capable to resolve these problems. These struggles are an important part towards our goal of building a socialist South Africa, a South Africa ruled by the producers of wealth, you the workers and the toilers of our country.
In addition the SACP will intensify its own campaigns as part of creating work and fighting poverty in our country. We will intensify our financial sector campaign, which has already notched some important victories, notably the Umzansi bank account, which is the Red October account.
But we are also calling for an amnesty for all the workers and the poor listed by the faceless credit bureaux. We support government legislation to regulate these unaccountable entities. We urge you to support us in this struggle so that the workers and the poor of our country can be given a second chance. We have given amnesty to apartheid criminals and murderers, why not the workers and the poor of our country? We have given the rich which had illegally invested their monies overseas, why not an amnesty for the poor?
Our financial sector campaign has also notched another important victory. The banks have for the first time committed R42 billion to finance low-cost housing. This is a direct outcome of the SACP-led financial sector campaign. But we are saying, if this money is to make an impact on housing our people – as the Freedom Charter demands – the banks must do away with the 20-year mortgage loans for the workers and the poor. We need a shorter paying period, which is not based on the hugely exploitative mortgage system based on compound interest. We also call upon workers to support us in this struggle. This will be of immense benefit to the workers and the poor of our country.
We must therefore continue the traditions of May Day by using this day to celebrate workers achievements, but most critically to take up the struggles that affect the workers and the poor of our country.