En Chile actual, las tensiones entre inmigrantes y trabajadores nacionales son un factor que puede dividir al movimiento sindical, y hay fuerzas políticas de derecha que usan la xenofobia para incitar el odio en contra los inmigrantes, sobre todo los de raza negra o indígena. Para lograr la justicia social (y vale recordar que el objetivo de los manifestantes del 1 de mayo de 1886—la jornada laboral de ocho horas, y la semana de 40 horas—aún no se ha logrado en Chile), hay que resistir estos intentos de división.
David Allen Harvey
Todos ya conocen el Primero de Mayo como el Día del Trabajador: una fecha para marchas, discursos y, a veces, para disturbios y enfrentamientos entre el pueblo y la policía. Pero la mayoría de las personas desconocen los orígenes de este feriado, pese a que su historia aún tiene mucho para enseñarnos en el siglo veintiuno.

Los hechos ocurrieron en el año 1880, durante lo que se ha llamado la Segunda Revolución Industrial, dominada por los ferrocarriles, las grandes empresas mineras, y el capitalismo financiero; una integración entre los bancos internacionales y las grandes empresas industriales. Entre las nuevas urbes creadas por el flujo de capitales, comodidades, e inmigrantes, aparece la ciudad de Chicago, metrópolis del nuevo Oeste norteamericano que, en pocos años, se presentaría al mundo como sede de la Exposición Universal de 1892. Era una ciudad de humo y acero, de mataderos donde el ganado del gran Oeste era procesado para el consumo nacional, y de fábricas y poblaciones de obreros inmigrantes, cuyas miserables condiciones de vida después serían documentadas en la novela The Jungle (La Selva) del escritor socialista Upton Sinclair. Pese a que la Asociación Obrera Internacional de Karl Marx había colapsado durante la década anterior, el socialismo y el sindicalismo continuaron creciendo en ambos lados del océano Atlántico. Lucharon por los derechos de los obreros, por una sociedad más justa, por condiciones laborales más conducentes a una vida plena. Para los Knights of Labor (Los caballeros del trabajo), una de las principales organizaciones sindicales de los EE.UU. en esos años, el objetivo principal era la jornada laboral de ocho horas. Desde 1884, los organizadores sindicales, entre ellos el periodista radical Albert Parsons, planificaron una gran jornada de protestas para el 1 de mayo de 1886, para exigir el cumplimiento de esta reforma.

Llegó la fecha anunciada, y una marcha multitudinaria de ochenta mil obreros desfiló por Michigan Avenue, la alameda principal de Chicago, en orden y tranquilidad. Pero al terminar la marcha, muchos de los obreros, quienes habían venido desde otras partes, decidieron quedarse en Chicago para apoyar la huelga de la empresa de maquinarias agrícolas McCormick. El 3 de mayo, hubo enfrentamientos violentos entre policías y huelguistas, donde resultó muerto un obrero y varios otros lesionados. Los organizadores convocaron una manifestación de protesta para el día siguiente en Haymarket Square (Plaza del mercado de paja).
Esta vez, al contraste del desfile pacífico del primero de mayo, el ambiente estaba lleno de tensión, aunque los organizadores llamaron a la calma. Pero las autoridades municipales y la grand burguesía industrial de la ciudad ya estaban hartos de movilizaciones obreras, y llegaron los policías para despejar con fuerza la plaza Haymarket. Alguien entre la muchedumbre (nunca se comprobó quién fue) lanzó una bomba contra la policía, y luego volaron disparos de un lado y de otro. Cuando la lucha finalmente terminó, siete policías resultaron muertos.

Entre tanta confusión, la identificación de los verdaderos culpables fue imposible, pero las fuerzas de orden exigieron un castigo ejemplar para evitar la repetición de tales desórdenes. Fueron detenidos ocho líderes sindicales, la mayoría de los cuales eran inmigrantes alemanes. No había ninguna evidencia de su culpabilidad, y todos los historiadores que han estudiado el Haymarket Affair han concluido que eran inocentes, pero sirvieron como chivos expiatorios para la represión del movimiento obrero. Todos fueron condenados, y cuatro de ellos, incluyendo el periodista Parsons, murieron en la horca. Uno de los otros reos se suicidó en la cárcel, y los tres restantes fueron indultados siete años después.

El 14 de julio de 1889 (fecha escogida por ser el centenario del comienzo de la Revolución Francesa), delegados socialistas y sindicales de muchos países se reunieron en Paris para restablecer la Internacional Socialista de Marx. Uno de los delegados norteamericanos a este congreso propuso designar el Primero de Mayo como el Día Internacional del Trabajador en honor a los mártires del caso Haymarket, y así fue. A partir del 1 de mayo de 1890, la fecha fue conmemorada en muchas partes del mundo. Irónicamente, uno de los únicos países donde nunca fue designado como feriado fue los EE.UU., donde la represión antisocialista y antisindical siguió por muchos años después de los eventos ya descritos. En 1894, el entonces presidente Grover Cleveland estableció el primer lunes de septiembre como el Día del Trabajo en los EE.UU., descartando el Primero de Mayo por su asociación con los hechos violentos de 1886.

Aunque puede parecer una historia antigua, y muy alejada a la realidad de países como Chile, los orígenes del Primero de Mayo sí tienen lecciones para enseñarnos en el siglo veintiuno. Uno de los principales es la importancia de la solidaridad de la clase obrera por sobre las diferencias nacionales, étnicas, y raciales. Como ya fue señalado, la mitad de los mártires del caso Haymarket eran trabajadores inmigrantes (como también fueron Sacco y Vanzetti, dos otras víctimas de la represión antisindical en el año 1921). Otra de los protagonistas del caso Haymarket fue Lucy Parsons (la esposa de Albert, también una activista sindical importante), una mulata que había nacido esclava diez años antes de la Guerra Civil Norteamericana. Protegida (o tal vez ninguneada) por su género, Lucy escapó de la horca que le robó a su marido, y militaría durante medio siglo más en varios movimientos sindicales y anarquistas de los EE.UU. En las décadas posteriores al caso Haymarket, el gobierno y el patronaje de los EE.UU. aprovecharon las diferencias raciales y nacionales para dividir a la clase obrera y debilitar al movimiento sindical, con consecuencias que se sienten hasta el presente.
En Chile actual, las tensiones entre inmigrantes y trabajadores nacionales son un factor que puede dividir al movimiento sindical, y hay fuerzas políticas de derecha que usan la xenofobia para incitar el odio en contra los inmigrantes, sobre todo los de raza negra o indígena. Para lograr la justicia social (y vale recordar que el objetivo de los manifestantes del 1 de mayo de 1886—la jornada laboral de ocho horas, y la semana de 40 horas—aún no se ha logrado en Chile), hay que resistir estos intentos de división. El mismo Karl Marx, al final del Manifiesto comunista, proclamó, “¡Proletarios del mundo, únanse!” O para decirlo en buen chileno, “¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!”
75 comentarios en “¡Proletarios del mundo, únanse! La historia del Primero de Mayo”
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