May Day Strike

May 1st traditionally celebrated the transition into spring, but the day became a union rallying call when a major strike took place with more than 300,000 workers leaving their jobs in 13,000 businesses across the U.S. It began in Chicago when 40,000 workers went out on an eight-hour strike on May 1, 1886 at the Haymarket Square. May 1 became International Workers’ Day to commemorate the loss of life and injuries sustained by protestors when a bomb went off and law enforcement used gun fire to squash the peaceful protest. Tomorrow, May 1, workers from Amazon, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Instacart, and FedEx, tired of feeling invisible and taken for granted by the corporations and the public at large, are set to go on strike. Many of these companies have not offered the best working conditions, but now with a deadly virus underway workers are being treated as if they are expendable. Suddenly deemed essential workers for a fraction of the wages, these workers’ health is being jeopardized for the almighty dollar. Employers are making record profits while their employees are getting sick and dying, proving to the world that low-wage workers are exploited as much here in the U.S. as around the world. Tesla’s Elon Musk is demanding that workers return to work and society reopen because the lockdown is “fascist.” Musk is making record profits during this time. The stay-at-home orders are working inures where strictly enforced so why does Musk and other corporate heads want them lifted? Chief among these workers’ complaints are the fact that workers are not being compensated for all unpaid time off used since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis began in March, hazard pay, sick leave paid for the duration of the pandemic, protective gear and equipment and all cleaning supplies provided by the corporations and not the employees and a full-disclosure of the number of Coronavirus cases in each of the facilities. The JBS Meatpacking plant in Greely, Colorado has had 245 employees test positive. Smithfield and Tyson plants closed due to an outbreak of Covid-19 among its employees, but Tyson wants the plants reopened or dire consequences will occur in the food chain. As the corporate toady that he is, Trump signed an executive order declaring meatpacking corporations critical infrastructure and prohibiting them from being forced to shutdown by states trying to protect the workers and their citizens. Trump did not implement the Defense Production Act so protective gear and ventilators would be produced to cover all of the U.S. counties and cities in need. These plants are being required to provide workers with protective gear when they reopen. It’s been written many times before on this blog, that organizing collectively gives workers more leverage in reaching their striking goals. Workers are up against formidable opponents. Corporations have lots of slush money to influence outcomes to their benefit. Iowa’s republican governor, Kim Reynolds, and others, declared if an employee refuses to return to work when businesses are reopened—against the advice of medical and scientific recommendations—then the employee’s refusal will be “deemed a voluntary quit” and won’t be eligible for unemployment. Texas is also implementing this punishment against low-wage workers wanting to protect their health when corporations want more profit. The death toll in the U.S. is more than 62,31961, and the Republican party is out in force trying to convince people it’s fine if old people die off making more room for the younger, productive people. The problem is, age is proving not to be the only factor in the virus killing off its victims. Hitler deemed the elderly, disabled, veterans and others as useless consumers of essential food and resources and the Republicans are showing colors. After all this, the Republican party can no longer call itself pro-life. This is the time for all labor unions to tell their histories. Union members need understand what went right and what went wrong so today’s employees do not repeat the mistakes of the past. One of the organizers for tomorrow’s strike said during a radio interview that he was learning about the history of unions and had no idea what employees went through, fought and died for only to see it slip away. He was fired from his job for speaking up about the dangerous environment Amazon employees were forced to work in. Tomorrow’s strike is a perfect gateway to teach young people of the importance of unions, why they are needed, what they can accomplish for workers, especially if they stand together, and how much better workers lives and that of society as a whole is when unions are there protecting the health and safety of workers and society as a whole.