Haymarket.....On May 3, 1886, at a rally outside of a factory, union leader August Spies gave a speech in which he told striking workers to stay calm and stand by their union, or they would not succeed in their strike for better working conditions and an 8 hour work day. At the end of his speech, the bell for the end of the work day rang out, and striking unionists attacked men who had broken the strike and gone to work. In trying to calm the fights that followed this attack, police opened fire, killing four demonstrators. The next day, workers held a vigil and rally at Haymarket Square to protest the police killings. August Spies and fellow union leader Albert Parsons gave speeches. At the end of the speeches, the police marched towards the protesters and asked them to break up the rally and go home. As they advanced, gun shots were exchanged between the protesters and the police, when suddenly a bomb exploded killing six police officers. The strike quickly came to an end as a result of the Haymarket riot and an anti-union movement swept through Chicago. The entire labor and immigrant community in Chicago came under police scrutiny. The strikers did not win an 8 hour work day until many years later.
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