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JOIN US ON THE 1ST OF MAY

History

International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, when Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight hour day, killing a dozen demonstrators. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently.

In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on "all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." As the most effective way of demonstrating was by striking, the congress made it "mandatory upon the proletrian organizations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers."

Through all this turmoil in the northern hemisphere, the Stonemasons Society in the then colony of Victoria, now the State of Victoria in Australia led the battle for the 8 Hour Day, the most dramatic achievement of the early trade Union Movement. By 1856 Australian workers were benefiting from the results of a decision by the Collingwood Branch of the Stonemasons Society of Victoria. The same year it was recognized in New South Wales, followed by Queensland in 1858 and South Australia in 1873. A memorial statue with the numerals 888, representing 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation, and 8 hours of rest, sits on the corner of Lygon Street and Victoria Parade in Melbourne, Australia to this day.

May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups. In some circles, bonfires are lit in commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs, usually right as the first day of May begins^[1]. It has also seen right-wing massacres of participants as in the Taksim Square massacre of 1977 in Turkey.

Due to its status as a celebration of the efforts of workers and the socialist movement, May Day is an important official holiday in Communist countries such as the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union. May Day celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries.

In countries other than the United States and Canada, resident working classes sought to make May Day an official holiday and their efforts largely succeeded. For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions, anarchists and various communist and socialist parties.

America

In 2006, May 1 was chosen by mostly Latino immigrant groups in the United States as the day for the Great American Boycott, a general strike of immigrant workers and supporters to protest H.R. 4437, immigration reform legislation which they felt was draconian. In various news media, the strike actions were publicly said to have been timed to coincide with International Workers' Day. On May 1, 2007, a mostly peaceful demonstration in Los Angeles in support of immigrant workers ended with a widely televised assault by LAPD officers.

( could this  be the answer to all those Political statments from some political parties  trying to rid Austria of migrants? )

Germany /Austra

May Day is a nationwide holiday in Germany. Traditionally, the day has a political connotation in most regions, and is also referred to as "Labor Day". Berlin witnesses yearly demonstrations on May Day, the largest organized by labour unions, political parties and others by the radical left and Autonomen.

Since 1987 it has also become known for heavy riots in some districts of Berlin. After police action against the radical lef

tist block in that year's annual demonstrations, the Autonome scattered and sought cover at the ongoing annual street fair in Kreuzberg (three years prior to the reunification, violent protests would only take place in the former West Berlin). The former protesters began tipping over police cars, violently resisting arrest, and began building barricades after the police withdrew due to the unforeseen resistance. Cars were set on fire, shops plundered and burned to the ground. The police were eventually able to end the riots the following night. These violent forms of protests by the radical left, including the punk rock scene, later increasingly involved participants without political motivation.

However, violence has been on the decline. Annual street fairs have proven an effective way to prevent riots, and May Day in 2005 and 2006 have been among the most peaceful known to Berlin in nearly 25 years. In recent years, neo-nazis and other groups on the far right like the NPD have also used the day to schedule public demonstrations, often leading to clashes with left-wing protesters, which turned especially violent in the historical city of Leipzig in 1998 and 2005.

The 1987 protests were not the first to turn violent though. In 1929, the social democratic SPD government prohibited the annual May Day workers' demonstrations in Berlin. The communist party KPD, which was the strongest party in Berlin, called demonstrations nonetheless. By the end of the day, 32 demonstrators, workers and bystanders had been killed by the police, at least 80 were seriously injured. The Berlin police, under control of the supposedly pro-labour social democratic government, had fired a total of11,000 rounds of live ammunition. This incident, remembered in the German language as Blutmai (blood May) deepened the split between the workers' parties KPD and SPD, that eventually gave an advantage to the NSDAP over their anti-fascist opponents in the parliament.

It was the Nazis, not the social democratic parties of the Weimar Republic, who made May Day a holiday in Germany, calling it the "day of work", which is its official name in the country.^{[citation needed]} Through this proclamation, the Nazis tried to take up the connotations of International Workers' Day, but did not permit socialist demonstrations on this day. Instead, they adapted it to national socialist purposes

. Then, on May 2, 1933, the Nazis outlawed all free labour unions and other independent workers' organizations in Germany, which subsequently formed their own secret amalgamation.

Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day

What is the working conditions of Migrants in Europe Today 120 years after  ?

What role willt he Austrian Police play this year? and Would the African Migrants protest for the  hopeless conditions and discriminations they are under going in Austria?

These and many other question would be answered in Pichling after the May demonstration , which is begining from  9:00am. from Blumauerplatz to Linz Hauptplatz.