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Commentary

Eighth annual

May Day recognized

TERRACE — The eighth annual May Day recognizing May 1 as an international working class holiday will be acknowledged by local residents tomorrow.

by Paul Johnston Member of the Carpenter’s Union

The carpenters union was chosen to lead strike action for the shortened work day on the first in- ternational May Day in 1890. It was an action that won shorter hours for 55,000 carpenters in North America.

May Day is now an in-

ternational day for workers with its roots traceable to 1886 in the United States. On that Saturday, 200,000 workers downed tools and joined 150,000 others in mass demonstrations in vir- tually every major city. The eight hour demand was central to the action.

With the exception of a few short years, the 1870s and 1880 were a period of economc depression. It was this period that people in the thirties referred to as the ‘great depression.

_ In’Europe, there was continuing war and con- flict. In Germany the mass struggle that had begun in 1848 continued. In France, there was on- going repression follow- ing the defeat of the Paris commune in 1871. In Britain, social and working conditions were being challenged by organization amongst groups such as the gas workers and dock workers. The great dock strike of 1889 proved to be a watershed for the British working class,

Immigrants to Canada, attracted by the opening of the west, found a harsh life whether they settled in Montreal, Hamilton, Toronto or on the Prairies.

In British Columbia, miners fought the Dunsmuir empire in the coal fields of Vancouver Island, Our own Nor- thwest was still basically untouched by the emerg- ing new system. For the most part the economy was still based upon native self-sufficency. This had been strengthed by the introduction of new trades and techni- ques on a community level in settlements such as Metlakatla. The regional gold rush of the 1880s had brought in a few new residents.

The one major excep- tion was in the fishing in- dustry. A major cannery

gle.

was in operation at Port Essington. It was sus- tained by a native workforce and native fishermen. Low pay and poor conditions led to organization and strike action on the Skeena in 1894, They were the first here to form a union.

This was also the time of the Northwest rebellion and the execu- tion of Louis Riel. It was the time of the CPR, a railroad built by the Irish, Chinese and other laborers.

In the United States, it was also a time of strug- The resistance against ever-increasing wage cuts and unrelieved unemployment exploded in 1877, as rail workers and others spread in- dustrial action across the country.

Not all those in posi- tions of power were as unthinking. President Grover Cleveland in his message to Congress stated: ‘“‘As we view the achievements of ag- gregated capital, we discover the existence of trusts, combinations and monopolies, while the citizen is struggling far in the rear or is trampled to death under the iron heel. Corporations, which should be careful- ly restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people’s masters,..””

It was in this context that the mass demonstra- tions of May I, 1886 took place. This victory did not, however, go unanswered. Chicago was the center of union militancy. On May 3, police attacked strikers at McCormick Harvester. Six were reported killed; four shot in the back.

A mass protest rally was called for May 4 at Haymarket Square. At the end of the rally, as the crowd dwindled, the police attacked again. someone tossed a bomb into the police lines. Eight were killed.

Although they were not in the vicinity at the time, eight anarchists were charged with murder. Eventually, four were executed.

History has intimately connected the Haymarket massacre and its aftermath with May Day. Defence of the innocents took on inter- national proportions. It

was a rallying point for.

the eight hour movement and deeply affected the delegates to the 1889 convention of the Inter- national Workingmen’s Association.

Local residents Leanne Power (left),Su mation about Pacific Tidewater Industr

arena on the weekend.

sie Munson, Jorgie Alexander, ial Auto of Thornhill by Joe Sullivan (back, center),

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Neil Downey and lan Hamilton (right) are given infor- during the Trades Fair held at the

Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 30, 1986 13

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Manager of Northern Computer Concepts In Terrace, Mike Schmiderer (jeft), explains some

of the computer techniques to Hennie Cook.

Daniele Berquis! photo

Workers get recognition

To the editor, April 28 has bee declared by the Cana- dian Labour Congress as the day to formally recognize the hundreds of Canadian workers killed on the job each year and the additional tens of thousands of workers who have been injured or disabled, The Canadian Labour Con- gress urged all Cana- dians to formally recognize the day of

mourning.

The pain and suffering and sacrifice made by workers and their families often goes unrecognized by society. The death of a policeman killed on the job rightfully if mourned by society as a whole. It receives national coverage and the loss to

etter

society is acknowledged. But the workplace death of a hydro lineman or a truck driver or an assembly-line-worker or a welfare worker — who also serve society — goes almost unreported and few mourn except a small circle of family, friends and co-workers. April 28 was the An- nual National Day of

Mourning as it was on

this date that the first Workers’ Compensation legislation was enacted in Canada (Ontario, 1914). The Kitimat-Terrace & District Labour Council would like to thank those organizations and in- dividuals who have shown support for this first annual day of recognition for those workers who have sacrificed their lives for Canadian society.

Jim Lamb, President Kitimat-Terrace & District Labour Council

The Results from a Classified Adare...

Something To Crow About

635-4339

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Local man may be

1 millionth Rotarian

TERRACE — A new member of the Rotary Club of Terrace may be the world’s one millionth Rotarian.

The names of: local residents Bill Smith and Stan Turner were admit- ted to membership the week of Feb. 17 when the world’s first and most in- ternational service club association passed the one millicn member milestone.

The one millionth Rotarian is being deter- mined in a random draw- ing by Rotary Interna- tional President Edward F, Cadman from the names of all new Rotarians worldwide ad- mitted during the week. He will be honored on June 1 at the organiza- tion’s international con- vention in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

Feb. 23 marked the anniversary of the founding of Rotary in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., in 1905. Now, at the beginning of Rotary’s 82nd year, there are more than one million Rotarians in over 22,000 Rotary clubs to be found in 160 different countries and geo- graphical regions.

Along with its growth in numbers, Rotary has broadened its service ac- tivities to benefit youth, the disabled, the elderly, and the community as a whole.

In Terrace, for exam- ple, welcome signs have been erected, tennis

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