International Labour Day, marked annually on May 1, was established by dozens of nations in memory of the struggle of America’s industrial workers for the eight-hour workday.
In the 19th century in the US, it was not uncommon for workers to spend up to 16 hours a day at their jobs, reports America’s National Public Radio. To win labour rights, workers engaged in massive demonstrations and strikes.
On May 3, 1886, a demonstration in Chicago involving tens of thousands of workers resulted in incidents that left some police officers and demonstrators dead.
Three years later, in their memory, an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May Day as International Workers’ Day. Since then, the day has been adopted by dozens of countries as a national holiday.
Yet, in the United States and Canada, Labour Day is marked in September, to avoid associating it with the Socialist ideology.
In our country, Labour Day was marked for the first time in 1890, during the reign of King Carol I. The day became a national holiday during the communist period, when the moment was strongly ideologized and demonstrations were organized on major boulevards and stadiums across the country.
After the fall of communism, on May Day, Romanians turned to spending time with friends and family.
Photo credit: Freepik.com / Cookie_studio
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