englishpod_E0078dg

Elementary ‐ The Weekend ‐ International
Workers Day (C0078)
A: Alright everyone settle down. Let’s get started. As you
know, an important aspect of becoming a good citizen is
understanding the genesis of our legal system. It is not
enough to simply memorize our laws, it is necessary that
we comprehend why and how they were formed. This
brings me to our topic for today. Does anyone know what
we celebrate on May first?
B: Cinco de mayo?
A: No, that’s May fifth in Spanish, James, no wonder you
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are failing my Spanish class. No, May first is International
Workers’ Day.
B: Do we get a day off from school then?
A: No! It is not considered to be a national holiday here in
the US, but in other countries it is.
B: Aww, man!
A: In the nineteenth century, working conditions were
appalling, with workers being forced to work ten, twelve,
and fourteen hours a day. Support for the eight-hour work
day movement was growing rapidly, despite the
indifference and hostility of many union leaders, and by
April 1886, 250,000 workers were involved in the May
Day movement. Previous legislative attempts to improve
working conditions had failed, so labor organizers took
drastic measures. They passed a resolution stating that
eight hours would constitute a legal day’s work. And, on
May First 1886, the resolution took effect.
B: Cool! Is that why we only work eight hours now?
A: Yes! But the happy ending came at a high price. On
May third, 1886, police fired into a crowd of strikers at the
McCormick Reaper Works Factory, killing four and
wounding many. A mass meeting was called for the next
day to protest the brutality.
B: And then what happened?
A: Well, as we say, the rest is history...