It was 122 years ago today that a group of workers, socialists and labour union organizers held the largest demonstration in Chicago during a nation-wide labour strike. The group consisted of 400,000 workers on strike to demand a reduction in working hours to eight hours a day.

During the course of the strike a policeman was killed by a bomb, which was thrown by an anonymous individual. Fingers pointed towards the labour movement’s influential leaders, five of whom were sentenced to death, while three received life imprisonment.

Despite the deaths of the labour movement leaders, the activities of the workers led to the eventual legal adoption of the eight-hour workday by the American Federation of Labour. The Chicago labour movement that began on the first day of May in 1886 would be recognized as International Workers’ Day, where millions of people around the world would celebrate the rights, struggles and victories of everyday workers as well as commemorate the Chicago martyrs.

Since that momentous day, workers have relied on the ability to hold demonstrations, protests and to go on strike to demand safety, higher wages, union recognition and, ultimately, justice. The purpose of striking is not only to ensure the employers meet the demands of the employees, but also to establish social and economic equality between workers and employers. Throughout history, strikes have been a symbol of workers’ strengths and economic justice.

In 1919, the Winnipeg General Strike brought the city to a halt when an overwhelming majority of workers voted to strike to demand the Canadian government recognize their right of collective bargaining. Leaders were arrested and two strikers were killed before working conditions finally improved.

In 1968, Memphis, Tennessee saw its sanitation workers declare a strike for higher wages and union recognition. Workers rose up against the white power structure and held demonstrations and daily, non-violent marches. Eventually, the city council granted most of the workers’ demands.

Fast forward to 2008. At midnight on Friday, April 25, nearly 9,000 union members who work for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) called a strike after 65 per cent of the members voted not to ratify a contract agreement.

The strike occurred without the 48 hours notice that was promised by the union, causing rampant outrage and dissent across Toronto, which has the largest transit system in Canada. Much of the media has been relentlessly sympathizing with the “inconvenienced” riders, overlooking the real inconvenience that has caused workers to call for the strike in the first place.

Bob Kinnear, head of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), expressed concerns in a press release that the tentative agreement wasn’t sufficient enough to ensure the safety of the union members. “We have assessed the situation and decided that we will not expose our members to the dangers of assaults from angry and irrational members of the public,” wrote Kinnear. The union leader added that the decision to call a strike was prompted by “reports from our members of increases in threats and abuse from passengers” during a 48-hour negotiation period. The tentative deal would have also contracted out maintenance workers and mechanics.

The Ontario Liberal government has been scrambling to strip away the common workers’ rights of TTC employees through two laws. Premier Dalton McGuinty insisted the public transit system be in full operation immediately and proceeded with back-to-work legislation that would force the 9,000 TTC workers to terminate the ongoing strike and continue its normal operations.

Workers that don’t comply are subject to daily fines of $2,000 while the union and the City of Toronto could face a $25,000 fine. After a mere 30 minutes in an emergency Sunday sitting of the Legislature, the law was passed forcing striking workers to go back to work with still no settlement negotiated.

The second law that would effectively strip away the transit workers’ rights is essential services legislation. The passing of the back-to-work bill informally makes the city’s public transit system an essential service. Both McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller have already started looking at officially making the TTC an essential service. This means any strike carried out by union members would become illegal and a mere pay premium would be given to those workers for giving up their basic right to strike.

Police officers and firefighters are considered essential services in order to prevent immediate danger to the health and safety of the public, while teachers and nurses have come close to getting put under the label.

Preventing employees’ ability to strike over labour relation issues undermines the democratic rights of workers. Strikes are a key means for achieving economic justice. Forcing workers to end their strike and forbidding them to strike at all on the basis that they provide an essential service isnâe(TM)t justifiable. It creates a power imbalance between the employee and the employer, where the power is ultimately placed in the hands of wealthy employers and the government.

International Workers’ Day celebrates the ability of workers all over the world to proclaim their ideals and announce their successes. Throughout history, the successes of workers have been built on the foundation of their unions’ ability to strike back at their employers.

Without that basic democratic right, there will simply be nothing to celebrate.