42 ChaPter^1
what we will” was their motto and a popular song—hundreds of thousands
of workers planned to go on strike for the shortened workday on May 1st,
1886 [later known as May Day, a celebration of working people everywhere
but in the U.S., which has its “Labor Day” in September]. At same time, a
wave of labor boycotts of anti-worker businesses was spreading, alarming the
Capitalists. Such activity brought a harsh business response. Pinkerton agents
came in to infiltrate unions; courts routinely handed down injunctions against
labor; and union leaders were fired or even jailed on conspiracy charges for
organizing boycotts.
The critical event of that year occurred in Chicago in early May, but labor
unrest truly spread across the entire nation. Led by anarchists and German
socialists, over 80,000 workers met in Haymarket Square on May 1st. On May
3rd picketers and scabs [men brought in to take jobs from the striking work-
ers] fought at the McCormick Reaper Works in Chicago. Earlier that year
the McCormick Company installed new machinery that greatly reduced the
need for skilled workers and announced that it would operate as a strictly
nonunion factory. During the May 3rd strike, police shot and killed fourFIGuRE 1-9 Wood engraving depicting explosion at Haymarket Square