WORKER’S DAY, Also known as May Day or Labour’s day is some places around the globe; this day is significant in celebrating the working group or the labourers. This day was brought to prominence by the international labour movements.
The date of May 1 was chosen by an international organization of communist and socialist political parties to commemorate the Haymarket massacre WORKER’S at Chicago, US. Since then the first of May is a national public holiday in several countries including India.
THE HAYMARKET AFFAIR
On May 1, 1886 there was a labor strike in Chicago in demand for an eight-hour workday. On May 4, as the police tried to disperse a crowd of protestors at Haymarket demonstrating in support of the strike, an unidentified WORKER’S person threw a bomb and the police personals started firing on the workers. In this incident 7 police officers and 4 demonstrators were killed and several hundreds of protestors were severely injured. On the next day at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the military forces fired on a crowd of strikers killing seven of them including WORKER’S two non-related civilians. Hundreds of labor leaders and supporters were rounded up and four of them were hanged to death after a trial that was viewed as “miscarriage of justice”.
ORIGIN OF THE MAY DAY
In 1889 at a meeting at Paris held by the first congress of the ‘Second International’, international demonstrations were called in 1890 on the Chicago WORKER’S protests anniversary. May Day got its official recognition as an annual event in 1891 at the second congress of the international. In 1894, the May Day riots occurred and in 1904 the International Socialist Congress at Amsterdam called on all trade unions and “Social Democratic party” organizations to energetically demonstrate in all countries on May 1 for the legal establishment of the 8-hour workday.
LATER EVENTS
In 1955, the Catholic Church dedicated May 1 to St. Joseph “the Worker” who was a patron saint of craftsmen and workers. During the Cold War, WORKER’S large military parades in Red Square by the Soviet Union were organized on May Day and attended by top leaders like the Politburo.
Since then May Day(WORKER’S DAY) has become a focal point for workers’ rights related demonstrations by socialist, anarchist, and communist groups around the world. Today the majority of the countries around the world celebrate May Day in view of the workers’ achievements.
Manosrija Sarkhel
(1st Year)
Mahila Maha Vidhyalaya, Banaras Hindu University
A student of English Hons. at BHU, Manosrija is a passionate writer with a writer’s page on Instagram (@manosrija_04) and a YourQuote profile (That Girl). She is a sincere reader and is interested in poetry, fiction, and politics.
