International Workers Day on May 1 celebrates the organized labor movement.
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern Spring holiday that got associated with organized labor movements and has become a day of protest for workers’ and civil rights.
International Workers Day 2022
The next International Worker’s Day is Sunday, May 1, 2022.
May Day is an Ancient European Spring Holiday
May Day once marked the end of Winter and the start of Summer. It was a Pagan feast day, very much like Jewish Passover and Christian Easter.
International Workers Day
May Day got associated with organized labor movements (unions) after the Chicago Haymarket Affair of 1886. In the era of sweat shops and long working hours, a May 4 strike and rally for the eight-hour day turned into a riot with several deaths.
American Labor organizers chose to commemorate the event on May 1. International Labor organizers adopted the date for an international commemoration in 1890.
In the United States the Labor Day holiday on the first Monday in September was established in 1894. Some believe this was done to avoid association with the Haymarket Affair.
Workers Day remains a public holiday in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, and much of Latin America. Many Latin consulates in New York City are closed on this day.
In the United States, International Workers Day is becoming a day of action for workers’ and civil rights.
