Brief History of International Labour Day

We trace a brief outline of the history of International Labour Day from the Pagan fertility festival – Beltane – to the Roman festival Floralia, to the fight for an 8-hour working day in the United States of America at the end of the 19th century – where International Labour Day has its roots, to the internationalization of the movement. Curiously, the USA is one of the few countries which does not have a public holiday on May 1^st.

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Beltane, Festival of Light

Beltane (Bealtaine or Cetsamhain) is the name given to the Festival of Light celebrated by the British Celts, welcoming the death of Winter and the birth of Spring, celebrated at the beginning of May. It is a fertility festival, symbolizing the union between male and female forces and it was celebrated by lighting a new fire, meaning new life. Cattle passed through the fire or the smoke and young couples jumped over the flames so as to be protected with the new life.

Floralia

The beginning of May was also an important fertility festival for the Romans. They celebrated the Festival of Flora, Goddess of Flowers. The celebration of Flora was called Floralia, which lasted from 28th April to 2nd May. During the Middle Ages all over Europe, this time was celebrated with singing and dancing. People went to the forests to cut down a tree, to form a Maypole. This served as a focal point for village festivities.

May Celebrations in the New World

These European celebrations at the beginning of May, celebrating the beginning of the agricultural calendar (sowing and planting) crossed the Atlantic and although such celebrations were repressed by the Puritans, they survived in the New World.

How was International Labour Day born?

And it was in the USA that the labour movement was born, which would choose this day to focus its demands. The embrionic workers’ associations and unions organized themselves during the 19^th century and began to fight against deplorable working conditions – a working day of between 8 and 10 hours and in many cases in conditions of extreme discomfort and/or danger. In some industries, the life expectancy did not reach 25 years of age!

The unions/associations formed the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions – FOTLU (November 1881), later the American Labour Federation, which at its National Convention in Chicago in 1884, proclaimed that after 1^st May 1886, the working day should be 8 hours. FOTLU announced a series of actions and strikes to apply pressure on the authorities to force them to implement the new working regime. Meanwhile the labour movement was brutally repressed by the Pinkerton security agents and the police.

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