The First Upsurge of the Workers' Movement

Following its First National Congress, the CPC set up a Secretariat of the Chinese Labor Organization to lead the workers' movement. Under the CPC's leadership, the political awareness of the Chinese working class grew quickly, and there came a first upsurge of the workers' movement that began with a strike by seamen in Hong Kong in January 1922. The seamen went on strike after their demands for higher wages and more job opportunities were refused. More than 100,000 people joined the strike and persevered in their struggle for 56 days before winning a victory.

From January 1922 to February 1923, more than 100 strikes of all sizes were staged across the country, and more than 300,000 workers participated in these strikes. The general strike on the Beijing-Hankou Railway, which began on February 4, 1923, was the climax of the first upsurge of Chinese workers' movement.

The strike of the railway workers caused panic among imperialist sympathizers and reactionary warlords. On February 7, the warlord Wu Peifu (1874-1939) sent soldiers and police to butcher the strikers. This became known as the February 7th Massacre. Lin Xiangqian (1892-1923), a CPC member and chairman of the Jiang'an branch of the railway trade union, and Shi Yang (1889-1923), another Communist and a legal consultant of the workers, were among those killed.

The railway workers had fought for their freedom of assembly and association, under the slogan "fight for freedom and human rights." Their strike demonstrated the strength of the Chinese working class and expanded the influence of the CPC among the people. Though the strike failed in the end, the workers had awakened the Chinese nation with their blood and sacrifice, and helped the general public realize that imperialism and feudal warlords were the enemies of the Chinese people, against whom they must continue their struggle for true freedom and liberation.

中國工人運動第一次高潮

中國共產(chǎn)黨成立后，建立中國勞動組合書記部，集中力量從事工人運動。在中國共產(chǎn)黨的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，中國工人階級的覺悟很快得到提高，工人運動開始出現(xiàn)蓬勃興起的局面，以1922年1月香港海員罷工為起點，掀起中國工人運動的第一次高潮。罷工是由香港海員要求資方增加工資和擴(kuò)大就業(yè)等合理要求被拒絕后開始的，參加罷工的工人達(dá)10多萬人。經(jīng)過56天的不懈斗爭，香港海員大罷工最終取得勝利。

從1922年1月到1923年2月，全國共發(fā)生大小罷工100多次，參加罷工人數(shù)達(dá)30萬以上。1923年2月4日爆發(fā)的京漢鐵路工人大罷工，將中國工人運動第一次高潮推向頂點。罷工引起了帝國主義和反動軍閥的恐慌。2月7日，軍閥吳佩孚調(diào)動軍警在京漢鐵路沿線血腥鎮(zhèn)壓罷工工人，制造了震驚中外的二七慘案。京漢鐵路總工會江岸分會委員長、共產(chǎn)黨員林祥謙與湖北省工團(tuán)聯(lián)合會法律顧問、共產(chǎn)黨員施洋等被殺害。

京漢鐵路工人大罷工是為爭取工人集會、結(jié)社的自由權(quán)利而爆發(fā)的，它鮮明地提出了“為自由而戰(zhàn)，為人權(quán)而戰(zhàn)”的政治口號，進(jìn)一步顯示了中國工人階級的力量，擴(kuò)大了中國共產(chǎn)黨在全國人民中的影響。罷工雖然遭到失敗，但工人的生命和鮮血進(jìn)一步喚醒了中國人民，使他們更加清楚地認(rèn)識到帝國主義和封建軍閥是中國人民的敵人，必須與之斗爭到底，才能獲得真正的自由和解放。