LYNN — Community organizations underscored Lynn’s labor legacy on Sunday with the 16th annual May Day caravan and City Hall rally.
“May Day demonstrates a common struggle of Lynn’s diverse working class that deserves equal and fair treatment in the workplace and in our communities, equitable access to jobs and resources, and
tenable wages that support a healthy lifestyle,” said Neil Whittredge, Diverse People United co-director and member of the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition.
Local May Day celebrations filled Sunday afternoon and early evening with a 2 p.m. City Hall speakers rally, followed by the caravan and a gathering on Lynn Common with a clean, community-building focus, along with music and art.
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, commemorates the historic Haymarket Strike in Chicago in 1886 and the violent repression against the strikers that propelled the movement for an eight-hour work day to a global force.
On May 1, 1886, 500,000 workers across the country united under a common banner of “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.”
As the third day of the strike came to a close in Chicago’s Haymarket Square, police opened fire on the crowd, killing at least two. The following day, a bomb was thrown as strikebreakers approached a gathering of workers, igniting a chaotic exchange of fire between police and strikers that resulted in 12 deaths.
The events of the Haymarket Affair gained international attention, and helped coalesce a global movement for workers’ rights that continues to inspire organizers of Sunday’s May Day commemoration.
“We have to continue to work and struggle for things that are important, not just to us, but to everybody who works for a living: decent incomes, healthcare, affordable housing, transit, putting food on our tables, and a decent environment,” said Pam Edwards, North Shore Director of Organizing for the Massachusetts Senior Action Council.
In addition to a caravan through Lynn’s diverse neighborhoods, this year’s May Day rally included speakers from groups organizing new workers and the organizing drive to unionize the INSA dispensary on Highland Avenue, as well as the campaign to organize foster parents as state employees.
Foster parent organizer Melodie Levy emphasized the campaign’s importance, saying, “there cannot be a fight with only one person in it; together we can conquer.”
The rally also focused on International Union of Electrical Workers-Communication Workers of America (IUE-CWA) Local 201’s efforts to bring new union jobs to GE, and the Fair Share Amendment to generate investment in public schools, transportation, and infrastructure.
“Community and labor working together has been instrumental in our campaign to bring new investment and new union jobs to GE in Lynn,” said Adam Kaszynski, president of IUE/CWA Local 201 and the North Shore Labor Council.
North Shore Juneteenth Association President Nicole McClain called May Day “a day that shines a light on the continued struggle for economic security, equity in employment, and quality work environments for every employee regardless of nationality, race, and political affiliation.”
The 2022 Lynn May Day Committee included volunteers from a broad group of sponsoring organizations: 1199 SEIU, Dencity Vibes, Diverse People United, Essex County Community Organization, the Highlands Coalition, IUE/CWA Local 201, Jobs with Justice Massachusetts, Latina Center MARIA, Lynn Latino Leadership Coalition, Lynn Worker Center, Massachusetts Not For Sale, Mass Senior Action Council, Neighbor to Neighbor, New Lynn Coalition, North Shore Democratic
Socialists of America, North Shore Juneteenth Association, North Shore Labor Council, Prevent the Cycle, and SEIU 509.
