A German-English flier calling for a rally at the Haymarket in Chicago
Is Labor Day in May or September? September, you say? Well, actually, that depends on where you live. China, the Philippines, France, Russia, Kenya, and Brazil are just a sampling of the over 80 countries around the world who honor their workers on May 1, also known as International Workers’ Day. If this is news to you, you probably also don’t know that the day has its origins in the movement for the 8-hour work day which largely took place in Chicago at the end of the 19th century. The first May Day was in 1886 when more than 300,000 workers across the U.S. walked out of their jobs in protest and began several days of protest and conflict with the police which would culminate at Haymarket Square in Chicago on May 4, 1886. On that day, many people - including many German immigrants as seen in the bilingual flier above - had gathered at the marketplace to show support for the workers striking for an 8-hour workday when a bomb exploded, killing a policeman, and leading to gunfire that killed several people in the crowd, in addition to many injuries. So as not to evoke the memory of the riots and violence of this week in May in Chicago, President Grover Cleveland moved the official celebration of Labor Day to September in 1887. However, around the world, May Day has remained a day on which workers are given the day off and labor groups organize for protests and celebrations of the worker.
May Day happens to also coincide with preexisting holidays such as Beltane, the Celtic Spring Festival, in Ireland and the traditional day for giving un brin de muguet (a sprig of Lily of the Valley) to loved ones in France, which dates back to the Renaissance (learn more on our blog).
So, today as you end your workday, hopefully not much more than 8 hours after you started it, take a moment to remember the people who fought to achieve this or, if you happen to be in one of those countries that celebrate May Day, enjoy the day off!
