“May Day is the day that strikes fear into the hearts of the capitalists and breathes hope into the hearts of the workers.” These words by Charles E. Ruthenberg resonate with a particular urgency as we approach this year’s May Day. The atmosphere today is markedly different from previous years. Between February and April, workers across India have raised a thunderous cry against exploitation.
As imperialist powers wage wars to bolster their profits, the ripples are felt globally—indirectly by the working masses and directly by millions of Indian laborers forced to seek work in the volatile Middle East. Driven by the unbridled greed of capital, industrial accidents are on the rise; in April alone, reports indicate that over 100 workers lost their lives.
Amidst this carnage, the Indian government has initiated the transition from 44 labor laws, including the Factories Act of 1948, into four restrictive Labor Codes.
May Day is the day the global proletariat celebrates with a spirit of defiance. It is not merely a struggle for wage hikes or perks; it is the symbol of the fight for liberation from capitalist bondage. Historically, the bourgeoisie has used every tool—deceit, bribery, punishment, and division—to crush labor movements, yet workers have repeatedly thwarted these designs to reclaim their rights. In 1889, the Second International declared May 1st as International Workers' Day to institutionalize this struggle.
In the 19th century, the working class existed in a legal vacuum. There were no fixed hours and no benefits. To extract maximum surplus value, capitalists forced laborers into 16 to 18-hour shifts. It was a life so inhumane that a worker often only saw his children asleep—leaving before they woke and returning after they had drifted off. Out of this desperation, the "Red Scare" began to haunt the American elite as early as the 1830s. By 1877, the rail strike in Martinsburg, West Virginia, was met with armed state violence, a precursor to the systemic repression that would follow.
By 1886, Chicago had become the epicenter of the radical labor movement. On May 1st, 80,000 workers marched for an eight-hour workday, part of a nationwide strike involving nearly 400,000 people. On May 3rd, police attacked a peaceful gathering, and in protest, a meeting was called at Haymarket Square on May 4th. As the rally wound down, police moved in. A bomb exploded, a policeman died, and the state unleashed a reign of terror. Thousands were arrested, and eight leaders were tried in a sham judicial process.
On September 20, 1887, seven workers were sentenced to death. On November 11, Parsons, Spies, Engel, and Fischer were hanged. Before the noose tightened, August Spies famously declared, “The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today.” Two days later, millions joined their funeral procession, a crowd rivaling that of Abraham Lincoln’s. Today, as demands for an eight-hour day and a living wage resurface across India, we feel the void of leadership like that of Spies—leaders who can amplify the workers' voice even from behind bars or the gallows.
Just as modern corporations use local administrations and hired goons to suppress dissent—as reported by workers in Noida—the industrialists of the past utilized private armies like the Pinkerton Agency. In response, workers built the Knights of Labor, which swelled to over 700,000 members by 1886, and founded the American Federation of Labor with the iconic demand: eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for recreation.
Currently, the Indian working class appears to lack the organized preparation necessary to directly challenge the ruling capitalist class. Those in power are terrified of labor movements and the very history of May Day. In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath views May 1st with deep suspicion. While the day inspires workers to organize as a class, the state attempts to pacify them with health camps in industrial hubs like Noida—a tactic of "kindness" to mask exploitation. Across the globe, workers remember the martyrs who laid the foundation of labor rights with their blood, yet the UP government actively suppresses this history, detaining labor leaders to stifle their voices.
Under the guise of the four Labor Codes, rights won through centuries of struggle are being snatched away. We are witnessing a return to the tactics of 1886—workers in Gurugram and Noida are being framed in false cases and imprisoned. Unfortunately, India’s trade unions have often failed to give this simmering discontent a revolutionary direction, frequently limiting their scope to narrow economic demands. The 1893 International Congress in Zurich reminded us that May 1st is not just about the eight-hour day; it is a demonstration of the resolve for social transformation and a classless society.
Most contemporary labor protests are spontaneous and focused on survival wages. Instead of addressing these grievances, the state brands militant workers as "outsiders" or "anarchists." Even some self-proclaimed "revolutionary" organizations shy away from the raw intensity of the workers' spirit. We have failed to guide this energy, getting bogged down in categories of "good" vs. "bad" or "conspiracy." In 2013, when Noida workers fought for better wages, they were labeled "anarchists." Even a supposedly "progressive" journalist aided the state by broadcasting workers' voices to help the police identify and suppress them.
Post-pandemic exploitation has intensified, and the looming shadow of war suggests it will only worsen. Workers, farmers, and students are all drowning in a sea of unemployment and insecurity. We need a common slogan and a common platform. Unions must set aside petty differences. We must return to the political roots of May Day and make it clear to the masses: the only alternative to this systemic exploitation is Socialism.
If the working class fails to organize now, capitalism and imperialism will evolve into even more barbaric forms, leaving no room for democratic or socialist forces. As Lenin insisted, the goal is not just the participation of the many, but their organized and conscious intervention in history.
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*Social worker
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