International Workers Day

Alright everyone settle down. Let’s get started. As you know, an important aspect of becoming a good citizen is understanding the genesis of our legal system. It is not enough to simply memorize our laws, it is necessary that we comprehend why and how they were formed. This brings me to our topic for today. Does anyone know what we celebrate on May first?

好了大家安静一下。我们开始吧。众所周知，成为一名好公民的重要方面是理解我们法律体系的起源。仅仅记住法律是不够的，我们还需要理解它们为什么以及如何形成的。这就引出了我们今天的主题。有人知道五月一日我们庆祝什么吗？

Cinco de mayo?

五月五号？

No, that’s May fifth in Spanish, James, no wonder you are failing my Spanish class. No, May first is International Workers’ Day.

不，那是西班牙语的五月五号，詹姆斯，难怪你西班牙语课不及格。不，五月一日是国际劳动节。

Do we get a day off from school then?

那我们那天放假吗？

No! It is not considered to be a national holiday here in the US, but in other countries it is.

不！在美国这不被视为法定假日，但在其他国家是。

Aww, man!

啊，真扫兴！

In the nineteenth century, working conditions were appalling, with workers being forced to work ten, twelve, and fourteen hours a day. Support for the eight-hour work day movement was growing rapidly, despite the indifference and hostility of many union leaders, and by April 1886, 250,000 workers were involved in the May Day movement. Previous legislative attempts to improve working conditions had failed, so labor organizers took drastic measures. They passed a resolution stating that eight hours would constitute a legal day’s work. And, on May First 1886, the resolution took effect.

在十九世纪，工作条件非常恶劣，工人们被迫每天工作十、十二甚至十四个小时。尽管许多工会领袖漠不关心甚至敌视，八小时工作制运动的支持者迅速增加。到1886年4月，有25万工人参与了五一运动。之前改善工作条件的立法尝试都失败了，因此劳工组织者采取了激烈措施。他们通过了一项决议，规定八小时为法定工作日。而到了1886年5月1日，该决议生效。

Cool! Is that why we only work eight hours now?

酷！所以我们现在只工作八小时吗？

Yes! But the happy ending came at a high price. On May third, 1886, police fired into a crowd of strikers at the McCormick Reaper Works Factory, killing four and wounding many. A mass meeting was called for the next day to protest the brutality.

是的！但这个美好的结局付出了高昂的代价。1886年5月3日，警察向麦考密克收割机厂罢工的人群开枪，造成四人死亡，多人受伤。第二天，人们召集了一次大规模集会抗议这一暴行。

And then what happened?

然后呢？

Well, as we say, the rest is history...

嗯，常言道，剩下的就是历史了……