MAY 1

International Workers’ Day  ·  Est. 1889

Why We Celebrate
Labour Day

The story of sweat, sacrifice, solidarity — and why a single date on the calendar carries the weight of a revolution.

May 1, 202610 min readHistory & Culture

Every year on May 1st, millions of people across the globe step away from factories, offices, fields, and construction sites to observe Labour Day — also called International Workers’ Day or May Day. Flags are raised. Rallies fill city squares. Speeches echo through parks. In many countries, it is simply a public holiday — an excuse for rest. But Labour Day is far more than a day off work. It is a monument to a long and bruising struggle for human dignity, carved out of two centuries of toil, tears, and tenacity.

To understand why we celebrate it, we must travel back to a world most of us would barely recognise — a world where twelve-hour shifts for children were routine, where workers had no voice, no safety net, and no guarantee they would survive their own workplace.

The Beginning

A World of Endless Toil

The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries transformed human civilisation at breakneck speed. Steam-powered machines replaced hand labour, and cities swelled with migrants fleeing rural poverty to seek work in the new factories. The promise of wages and modernity drew them in — but what greeted them was often brutal.

Workers — men, women, and children as young as five — toiled in textile mills, coal mines, and iron foundries for up to 16 hours a day, six or seven days a week. Factory floors were deafening, airless, and dangerous. Workers who lost a finger to a machine or developed a lung condition from coal dust had no compensation, no sick leave, and no recourse. They were, in the eyes of many employers, simply replaceable inputs — like coal or cotton.

Children crawled through mine shafts too narrow for adults. Women worked through pregnancies and came back to the factory floor days after giving birth. The poor did not merely struggle — they were systematically exploited, and the law largely looked the other way.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.

— The Workers’ Battle Cry, 1886

It was in this world that workers began to organise. Slowly, painfully, at enormous personal risk — because forming a union or leading a strike could mean arrest, blacklisting, or worse — they started to demand something radical: that their lives be worth more than their output.

The Turning Point

The Haymarket Affair, Chicago, 1886

The most pivotal moment in the history of Labour Day did not happen in a parliament or a palace. It happened on a damp spring evening in a public square in Chicago, Illinois — and it ended in blood.

By the 1880s, American labour unions had been fighting for the 8-hour workday for years. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions had set May 1, 1886 as the deadline by which employers should adopt the 8-hour day. As the date arrived, hundreds of thousands of workers across the United States went on strike.

On May 3rd, police fired into a crowd of striking workers at the McCormick Reaper Works in Chicago, killing at least two. Outraged, labour activists called for a protest meeting at Haymarket Square the following evening — May 4, 1886. The meeting was peaceful. Chicago’s Mayor Carter Harrison attended and, satisfied there would be no trouble, left early.

Then, as the final speaker was wrapping up and police moved in to disperse the remaining crowd, someone — never conclusively identified — threw a dynamite bomb at the officers. The explosion and ensuing gunfire killed seven police officers and an unknown number of civilians. The event shocked the nation.

Eight anarchist labour organisers were arrested and put on trial in what many historians have called one of the most unjust trials in American legal history. Despite lack of evidence linking them to the bomb, four were hanged. The men became martyrs to the labour movement — symbols of state power used to crush workers who dared to demand their rights.

📅 Why May 1st?

• May 1, 1886 was the date American unions chose for the 8-hour workday strike
• In 1889, the Second International (a coalition of socialist parties) designated May 1st as International Workers’ Day
• The choice was deliberate — to commemorate the Haymarket struggle and honour its martyrs
• Today, over 160 countries observe Labour Day on May 1st

The Movement Grows

From Protest to Global Celebration

The Haymarket affair did not crush the labour movement. If anything, it galvanised it. The executions of the Chicago martyrs were seen around the world as evidence that employers and governments would rather silence workers than listen to them. The response was an intensification of organising, strikes, and political pressure.

In 1889, the International Socialist Congress meeting in Paris — inspired by the centenary of the French Revolution — declared May 1st as an annual day of international solidarity for workers. The first coordinated International Workers’ Day demonstrations took place on May 1, 1890, in Europe, the Americas, and beyond. Hundreds of thousands marched, peacefully and defiantly, demanding shorter hours, safer conditions, and the right to organise.

Over the following decades, the demands of the labour movement slowly — painfully slowly — bore fruit. The 8-hour workday became law in more and more countries. Child labour was restricted, then largely abolished in industrialised nations. Minimum wage laws emerged. Workplace safety regulations were enacted. Social insurance programmes were created. Not because employers woke up one morning feeling generous — but because workers organised, fought, and in many cases died for these rights.

Key Milestones

A Timeline of the Labour Movement

1833

UK Factory Act

Britain passes the Factory Act, restricting working hours for children. Children under 9 are banned from textile mills. A small but significant step.

1866

First International demands 8 hours

The International Workingmen’s Association (First International) calls for an 8-hour working day at its Geneva Congress.

1886

Haymarket Square, Chicago

The defining moment of the labour movement. A bomb, a massacre, show trials, and four executions that shook the world and created lasting martyrs.

1889

May 1st Declared International Workers’ Day

The Second International in Paris formally establishes May 1st as International Labour Day, to be marked every year worldwide.

1919

ILO Founded; 8-Hour Day Adopted

The International Labour Organization is founded. Its very first convention limits working hours to 8 per day and 48 per week in industrial undertakings.

1923

India’s First Labour Day

The Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan organises India’s first May Day celebration in Madras (now Chennai), marking India’s entry into the global labour movement.

1938

USA: 40-Hour Work Week

The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes the 40-hour work week and the federal minimum wage in the United States. A major victory after decades of struggle.

Today

A Global Day of Solidarity

Over 160 nations mark Labour Day. While victories have been won, the fight continues — for fair wages, gig worker rights, gender pay equity, and climate-safe jobs.

Around the World

How Different Nations Celebrate

Labour Day looks different depending on where you stand in the world. In some countries it is a solemn day of remembrance; in others, a joyful festival of workers’ pride; in others still, a charged political moment. Here is a glimpse across the globe:

India

Known as Antarrashtriya Shramik Diwas, first celebrated in Chennai in 1923. States observe it with union rallies, cultural programmes, and speeches honouring workers across all sectors.

Germany

A national public holiday since 1933 (originally introduced by the Nazis before being reclaimed by unions post-war). Large union marches fill Berlin, Frankfurt, and Hamburg each year.

China

A major public holiday — a “Golden Week” of celebration. Government events and state media celebrate workers’ contributions to national development.

Brazil

Dia do Trabalho is one of Brazil’s most important public holidays. Massive rallies draw hundreds of thousands, and it often serves as a platform for labour and political announcements.

United Kingdom

Observed on the first Monday of May. Trade unions organise marches and the day carries strong ties to the socialist tradition, with events in London, Glasgow, and Cardiff.

United States

Uniquely, the US observes Labor Day in September — partly to distance it from May Day’s socialist origins. The September holiday is celebrated with parades and marks the unofficial end of summer.

The Deeper Meaning

What Labour Day Really Stands For

At its core, Labour Day is about one idea: human dignity in the workplace. The notion that a person who works should be treated as a human being — not a machine, not a commodity, not a disposable resource — but a person with rights, needs, and inherent worth.

It is about the radical proposition — once considered dangerous — that the people who build the world deserve a share in its prosperity. That the miner who digs coal should not die from black lung disease for lack of ventilation. That the factory worker who sews clothes should not be locked inside a burning building because exits are bolted shut. That the domestic worker who raises another family’s children deserves legal protection too.

These ideas seem obvious today. They were not always obvious. They became law only because workers organised, marched, went on strike, and in many cases sacrificed their livelihoods and their lives to demand them.

The labour movement did not diminish capital; it civilised it.

— Labour Historian, Gordon Lafer

Labour Day also reminds us that every right we enjoy today was once a demand someone made — and was resisted. The 5-day work week, paid annual leave, maternity benefits, workplace safety standards, the right to a lunch break — none of these came as gifts from employers. Every single one was fought for.

The Fight Continues

Modern Struggles for Workers’ Rights

It would be comfortable to believe the battle is won — that Labour Day is now simply a celebration of past victories. But the struggle for workers’ rights is very much alive, taking new forms in the 21st century.

The Gig Economy has created a new class of workers — Uber drivers, Deliveroo couriers, freelance platform workers — who are classified as “independent contractors” rather than employees. This classification often means they receive no minimum wage protection, no sick pay, no pension contributions, and no right to organise. Millions of workers around the world are fighting to change this, with some landmark legal victories already secured.

Wage Inequality remains a profound global challenge. The gap between the highest and lowest earners in many countries has widened over the past four decades, even as overall economic output has grown. The promise that hard work leads to a comfortable life feels increasingly hollow for many workers in the global south — and increasingly, in wealthy nations too.

Gender Pay Gaps persist across virtually every industry. Women, on average, earn less than men for equivalent work, are more likely to be in low-paid sectors, and disproportionately bear the burden of unpaid care work. The labour movement has increasingly recognised gender equity as a central workers’ rights issue.

Climate and Just Transition has emerged as a new frontier. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, hundreds of thousands of workers in coal, oil, and gas industries face unemployment. Labour movements are demanding a “just transition” — policies that protect these workers through retraining, social security, and investment in clean energy jobs.

Informal and Migrant Workers remain among the most vulnerable. Domestic workers, agricultural labourers, construction workers on short-term contracts — often migrants — frequently fall outside the protection of formal labour laws. Labour Day is a reminder that workers’ rights must be universal, not selective.

✦   ✦   ✦

Closer to Home

Labour Day in India: A Story of Struggle and Pride

India’s relationship with Labour Day is particularly rich and complex. The country that produced Gandhi’s campaigns for workers’ rights, that gave the world Ambedkar — who worked tirelessly to protect the rights of labourers and Dalits — has a deep tradition of labour activism.

India’s first Labour Day was celebrated on May 1, 1923 in Madras, organised by Malayapuram Singaravelu Chettiar, one of India’s earliest communist leaders. Red flags were raised publicly for the first time in India that day. The movement declared that Indian workers stood in solidarity with working people everywhere.

In independent India, Labour Day is observed across the country. It is a gazetted public holiday in most states. Unions representing workers in textiles, construction, IT, agriculture, and domestic services use the day to highlight ongoing issues — unpaid wages, lack of social security, unsafe conditions in informal sectors, and the rights of India’s vast unorganised workforce.

India’s labour market is unique in its scale: over 90% of its workforce is in the informal sector — without written contracts, pension coverage, or reliable access to legal protections. For these hundreds of millions of workers, Labour Day is not a celebration of rights already won. It is a statement of rights still being demanded.

Every Day You Rest
Is a Day Someone Fought For

Labour Day is not nostalgia. It is a living reminder that rights are not given — they are won, and they must be protected. As long as there are workers, there will be a need for solidarity, for advocacy, and for the spirit that turned May 1st into a day the whole world pauses to remember. Written in honour of workers everywhere  ·  May 1, 2026  ·  International Workers’ Day