Labour Day (International Workers' Day)
Next: May 1, 2027
Thank the people who keep things running.
The story
Where it comes from
Labour Day, also called International Workers' Day or May Day, grew out of the campaign for an eight-hour working day. In 1889 an international congress of workers' parties and trade unions, meeting in Paris, called on workers in every country to press for it on the same date, 1 May 1890, a day the American Federation of Labor had already chosen for its own rallies. The gatherings were repeated every year, and over the following century 1 May became a public holiday in much of the world.
How it's celebrated
In many countries it is a day off, among them Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and mainland China. Trade unions hold rallies and gatherings, and for most people it is simply a rest that work has earned. It is a good day to thank someone whose work keeps your own day running, from the bus driver and the hawker to the cleaner and the nurse on the night shift.
Did you know
- On 21 April 1856 stonemasons in Melbourne downed tools and marched to win an eight-hour day, under the slogan 'eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest'.
- The very first convention of the International Labour Organization, adopted in 1919, limited industrial work to eight hours a day and 48 hours a week.
- Korea's first Children's Day, in 1923, was held on 1 May; it later moved to 5 May so that it would not clash with Labour Day.
Coming up next
- World Laughter Day · May 2, 2027
- World Tuna Day · May 2, 2027
- World Press Freedom Day · May 3, 2027
- International Firefighters' Day · May 4, 2027
- Children's Day (Korea and Japan) · May 5, 2027
- International Day of the Midwife · May 5, 2027