Democratic Mayoral candidate Alicia Hernandez Strong offered wishes for a, “Happy May Day Week!” in recognition of International Workers’ Day on May 1st.
In many countries, Labor Day, also called International Workers’ Day, is celebrated on May 1st, not in September, as in the United States.
“May 1st was designated International Workers’ Day to commemorate the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago,” Strong wrote online. “Back then, workdays could be anywhere from 10-16 hours, and conditions were often unsanitary and hazardous, especially for child laborers.”
“On May 1st,” Strong continued, “workers began a general strike to demand an eight-hour workday — and were met with violent resistance from the police, resulting in a massacre of workers.”
A print article of the American Experience series on the PBS website described the Haymarket Square events on May 4, 1886, in which, after police descended on a peaceful rally protesting police killings of two union strikers a day earlier,
From somewhere in the crowd, a bomb was thrown in front of the columns of police. When the dust settled, seven police officers were dead and sixty were injured, many of them hit by wild shots from fellow policemen. A like number of civilians were killed and injured, although the number is uncertain because few would admit to being at the rally.
Whoever threw the bomb was never caught. Instead authorities, rounded up labor leaders and journalists. Eight people were put on trial. “The judge, Joseph E. Gary, allowed men who had already decided on a guilty verdict to sit on the jury,” the American Experience wrote, “The defense lawyer, William Perkins Black, provided alibis for all eight men. The only two who were at the rally at the time of the bombing had been on stage, in full view of the crowd and police.” But, all eight were convicted, anyway, and four were put to death.
The events of that day are viewed by many as emblematic of the suppression by the monied interests in control of government power of working people striving for economic fairness.
“Days like May Day remind us that it was only through generations of committed struggle that working people have their rights today,” Strong wrote, “and that there is more to fight for!”
Strong’s campaign website describes her economic plans being that, “Economic development must be done with working class people in mind. That means prioritizing affordable housing and cultivating local entrepreneurs.”
Strong announced in March that she is seeking the Democratic nomination for Mayor of New Britain, saying that she is, “running on a working class platform.”
My priority,” Strong said, “is working people. I am fighting for working people because I believe that our students deserve a well-funded, quality education in this town.” She called for affordable housing and a police civilian review board with subpoena power, “in which the police will be accountable to all of the residents of New Britain.”
On April 27th, Strong added that she was focusing, “Day 2 of May Day Week,” on the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, saying,
When police violently raided Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, patrons and folks in the neighborhood organized and fought back. This led to a massive uprising, now known as the spark that ignited the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement in our country.
As we note the attack on transgender rights across the country right now, Stonewall reminds us that queer folks have always been criminalized in history, and we still have much to do in the fight for queer liberation.
Editor’s note (4/27/2021): The article was updated to include Strong’s comments on the Stonewall Rebellion.
