Over the last few years there has been a real May Day celebration in the Troy area that centers around May 1, the traditional May Day that workers around the world celebrate - except for the U.S. Ironically, it began in America and many labor organizations have been attempting to bring it back (instead of celebrating the labor day in September that was designed to replace the real one).

This year, the Fourth Annual Capital District May Day Labor Festival includes events planned for Wednesday May 1, and Thursday May 2.

On Wednesday, May Day, there will be a panel discussion, entertainment, movie premier, and refreshments at Page Hall of The University at Albany's Downtown Campus.

Confirmed panel speakers this year include labor historian Joshua Freeman, an Associate Professor at Queens College, who will discuss the history of New York transit workers. Additionally Katherine Abair, President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) Local 752, will discuss local railroad union activities in Troy, Schenectady, and Albany. At one time, we were the center of the railroad industry in the 19th century and several train lines ran into the center of the city. The first steam powered passenger train in America ran between Albany and Schenectady in 1831.

There will be musical entertainment, as there has been each year, and will be performed by Peter Siegel, who will sing original and traditional songs of regional political and environmental significance. In past years, May Day celebrants have extended the festival to participate in the annual march to the Capitol Building in support of Farmworker Advocacy Day. This year the march will be on Thursday May 2.

Following the panel discussion, there will be a first showing in the United States of The Navigators, a major British film by Ken Loach, director of Bread and Roses. The Navigators follows the fortunes of the British railroad workers as they struggle against the privatization of Britain's rail system.

This year's sponsors of the event are the Troy Area Labor Council, New York Labor History Association , New York State AFL-CIO , Solidarity Committee of the Capital District, and The Eighth Step Coffee House.

You can contact Art Fleischner at 518-785-4400 ext 4411 for more information.

The origins of May Day have roots to the 19th century struggle to have an 8 hour work day. Most people today don't have a clue that there was a time when working 15 hours a day, six days a week was the norm. Working conditions were brutal and dangerous for men, women and even children who had to work in unsafe factories across our nation.

In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions passed a resolution promoting an eight hour work day from and after May 1, 1886. They called a national strike on that day and more than 350,000 workers across the country responded. Many of the major cities like Chicago were brought to a standstill as railroads, stockyards, and other businesses were forced to close. Two days later, local police shot randomly into crowds of fleeing strikers, killing four and wounding many more. This led to the infamous Haymarket Square massacre in Chicago.

In Troy, our ties to the labor movement go with our own Kate Mullaney, a young Irish immigrant, who organized more than 200 women into the first female union, the Collar Laundry Union in 1864, and led three successful strikes for better working conditions for women. She later went on to become the first women to hold a leadership position in the National Labor Union in 1868.

Trojans had influence on the national labor scene as well. Simon Mann, president of the iron molders union #2 in Troy became the first vice president of the National Iron Molders Union. In 1860, the Troy Local of the International Iron Molders Union was the largest in the country with 400 members. Trojan James Hooley was vice president of the union in 1888.

No matter what you do on May 1, take a moment and give thanks to all those women, men, and children who struggled so hard to make a living under the most harsh conditions, and led the struggle to make working conditions better for all.

Heritage on the Hudson appears every Tuesday in the Troy Record.