Friday May 1, 2015

Green Party of Pennsylvania supports May Day USA march and rally

May 1, May Day, is an internationally recognized celebration of labor.  The date was chosen to commemorate the Haymarket Riot.  The riot was a result of police action against laborers organized to obtain an 8 hour work day and a bomb thrown by one of the protesters.

While some countries around the world celebrate May Day as Labor Day, efforts to do so in the U.S. have been unsuccessful.  The Green Party of Pa endorses the May Day USA march, rally and celebration in Philadelphia.

"Eighty countries have a public holiday on May Day, but, not the United States, where the 8 hour work day originated", said Vivek Ananthan member of both the Green Party of PA Steering Committee and the International Committee of the Green Party of the United States.  Ananthan initiated a proposal, which was unanimously accepted by the May Day Committee, to ask Philadelphia City Council to declare May Day a public holiday.

“The Green Party supports a living wage and today’s fight for $15.00 has to rank up there with the fight for the 8 hour workday,” said Jay Sweeney chair of the Green Party of Pennsylvania.