There is much confusion over why the United States of America and Canada commemorate Labor Day on the first Monday in September and not as many other nations do…
May Day rallies across Maine focus on building worker power amid pandemic mainebeacon.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mainebeacon.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The slogan “Workers of the world unite.” from The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels is one of the rallying cries celebrating May Day International Workers’ Day and the historic struggles and gains made by workers and the labour movement globally over generations of class struggle.
As a commemoration, May Day’s origins lie in the Haymarket Massacre, the bombing of a peaceful rally in support of Chicago workers striking for an eight-hour working day in 1886.
Since then, inspiring poster images such as these reflect a spirit of optimism and political resolution, demonstrating May Day’s growing significance internationally and the message that “the workers united can never be defeated.”
Why isn t Labor Day celebrated in May in the US?
The historical significance behind International Workers Day is based on events that happened in the US, so why is the day not celebrated here?
DPA vía Europa Press
DPA vía Europa Press
In the US, Labor Day has been celebrated in
September since the 1880s. Efforts have been made to move the day to May to align with the i
nternational celebration, but the remnants of Cold War tensions have soured this endeavor.
A brief history of International Workers Day
While the United States does not celebrate International Workers Day, events from the US labor movement inspired the Marxist International Socialist Congress to chose May 1st for their day of action. In 1890, in Paris, the Marxist International Socialist Congress chose