May Day, also known as International Worker’s Day, is celebrated annually on May 1st to honor the labor movement and the working class. While May Day is not considered a federal holiday in the US, it’s a public holiday in many countries including India, South Africa, China, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Greece. However, for the United States and Canada, they celebrate a similar holiday which occurs on the first Monday of September—known as Labor Day.
Despite not being celebrated in the US, May Day originates from the United States, where workers fought to reduce their working hours, which stretched from 14 to 20 hours a day. Workers demanded for shorter workdays, along with demands for increased wages. As industrialization improved in the early 19th century, workers organized themselves into trade unions to demand better working conditions. By 1837, a 10-hour workday was established for government workers, however, it wasn’t universal for all workers so the labor movement continued.
This demand gradually evolved to become the widely accepted eight-hour workday. By the 1860s, this demand influenced delegates from various trade unions to form the National Labor Union (NLU) in the United States. The NLUsought to unify workers across trades and declared a resolution that workday would be a minimum of eight hours across all states. The NLU laid the groundwork for the 1st General Congress of the International Workingmen’s Association that endorsed the demand for an eight-hour workday.
The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada passed a resolution in 1884 declaring that from May 1, 1886, eight hours would be the standard for a workday. The federation also called an organized mass strike on May 1, 1886. More than 500,000 workers were drawn in and were involved in a total of about 1,500 strikes. The movement was widespread across major cities in the United States, and was centered at Haymarket Square, Chicago, which eventually turned into a violent confrontation with police.
In 1889, the Second International designated May 1 as a day in support of workers, to commemorate the Haymarket Riot in Chicago. In 1894, U.S. President Grover Cleveland signed legislation to make Labor Day, which is held on the first Monday of September—the official U.S. holiday in honor of workers.
May Day used to be a day where many countries in Europe held high-scale parades and included showcasing the militarities army. However, May Day celebrations around the world have declined in importance but continue to be celebrated with picnics and parties, along with the occasional rallies—in support of workers.
