May+Day+CL

=May Day (Haymarket riot)= In 1886 supporters of the eight-hour workday called for a nation-wide strike on May 1st. Its purpose was to protest a police attack on Union pickettes at McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in which workers were injured and killed. In Chicago, the local Knight of Labor (The Knights of Labor was the first major American labor union. It was formed in 1869 as a secret society of garment cutters in Philadelphia) led a march of 80,000 people through the center of the city. Over the next couple of days many workers went on strike across the city. The police intervened to stop a fight on the picket line at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. Police fired on the strikers, killing a few people. Local groups had a meeting in Chicago's Haymarket Square to protest the shooting of the strikers. The next day thousands of people gathered to hear the speeches of the people. The police showed up and someone threw a bomb, killing an officer and wounded a few others. The police opened fire, and workers shot back. Many people were injured.