May Day – Working Class History

May 1, 2024July 7, 2025 Working Class History Podcast

E85: May Day with Upstream

Podcast produced by Upstream in conversation with John from Working Class History talking about the history of May Day, International Workers’ Day, from its modern origins in Chicago in 1886, to its mediaeval roots, and its relevance today.

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3 November 2017: Marshall Islands fish strike - On This Day in Working Class History

On 3 November 2017 around 20 workers at the Delap Marshall Islands Fishing Venture (MIFV) went on strike. MIFV claimed that the strike was based on a false allegation that they had withdrawn the ability of employees to buy fish on credit from their salaries. They claim that one employee was denied a purchase because he had not worked sufficient hours.The Marshall Islands Journal reported that when "the employee was told he couldn’t charge fish, he became angry and told coworkers MIFV administration had stopped allowing employees to charge fish against their pay. The individual rounded up a group of workers for a meeting last Thursday night, and with the help of alcohol, pulled a successful strike the following day."In retaliation, the company fired two workers the following week.More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7945/marshall-islands-fish-strikeOur work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History