Thursday, May 1, is celebrated as International Workers’ Day, an annual holiday observed by workers around the world. This date was chosen in memory of the workers and labour leaders who died fighting for an eight-hour workday and better working conditions.
The origins of this holiday date back to a strike that took place in Chicago, US, in 1886, at a time when the United States and several European countries were undergoing a transition from capitalism to imperialism. At that time, capitalists sought to increase the length and intensity of labour for rapid economic development, which led to the brutal exploitation of workers who worked 14-16 hours a day for a pittance.
This exploitation outraged the workers, who realised that the only way to improve their living conditions was to unite in trade unions and fight through strikes. They put forward the slogan: “Eight-hour working day.”
In 1877, the first major strike began in America, during which workers organised mass demonstrations and took to the streets demanding better working and living conditions. In October 1884, eight Canadian and American trade unions gathered in Chicago and decided to hold a general strike on May 1, 1886 to force employers to introduce an eight-hour working day.
On that day, about 350,000 workers from more than 20,000 American factories walked off the job and took to the streets in a mass demonstration that paralysed several large factories. The government tried to suppress the protests by force, which sparked labour unrest around the world. Workers in Europe and other continents began a series of successive strikes. A month later, the US government was forced to effectively introduce the eight-hour working day.
In June 1889, the International Socialist Congress of Deputies opened in Paris, France, where it was decided to declare May 1 of each year a general holiday for all proletarians of the world. On this day in 1890, workers in America and Europe organised mass demonstrations to celebrate the success of their struggle, and thus the “International Workers’ Day” was born.
