Okay, so if we created a thread about every insignificant holiday worldwide, we would be flooded...
Well, I respectfully disagree.
This holiday is a reminder of the efforts made, in the past and in the present, on behalf of the workers both of my country and of the world. While most of the world celebrates May Day as the observance for workers, that day in part commemorates Chicago's Haymarket Massacre.
The Haymarket Massacre was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago.
"No single event has influenced the history of labor in Illinois, the United States, and even the world, more than the Chicago Haymarket Affair. It began with a rally on May 4, 1886, but the consequences are still being felt today. Although the rally is included in American history textbooks, very few present the event accurately or point out its significance," William J. Adelman
The Haymarket Affair took on worldwide dimension in July 1889, when a delegate from the American Federation of Labor recommended at a labor conference in Paris that May 1 be set aside as International Labor Day in memory of Haymarket martyrs and the injustice of the Haymarket Affair. Today in almost every major industrial nation, May Day is Labor Day. Even Great Britain and Israel have passed legislation in recent years declaring this date a national holiday.
For years, half of the American Labor movement observed May 1 as Labor Day, while the other half observed the first Monday in September. After the Russian Revolution the May 1 date was mistakenly associated with communism...
So not withstanding the fact that this holiday (Labor Day) is only celebrated by Americans, it still possess a character which is international in outlook. That is how I conceive it.
The Labor Movement has shed blood so that a modicum of dignity and decency should be part of everyone's life.
And that is very much worth taking a moment to remember.
