Countries and dependencies coloured by observance of International Workers' Day or a different variant of May Day or Labour Day:
Labour Day falls or may fall on 1 May
Another public holiday on 1 May or the first Monday in May
No public holiday on 1 May, but Labour Day on a different date
No public holiday on 1 May and no Labour Day
Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the achievements of workers. It has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.
For most countries, Labour Day is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which occurs on 1 May. For other countries, Labour Day is celebrated on a different date, often one with special significance for the labour movement in that country. Labour Day is a public holiday in many countries.
For most countries, "Labour Day" is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which occurs on 1 May. Some countries vary the actual date of their celebrations so that the holiday occurs on a Monday close to 1 May.
Some countries have a holiday at or around this date, but it is not a 'Labour Day' celebration.
The first march for an eight-hour day by the labour movement occurred in Melbourne on 21 April 1856.[5] On this day, stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day. Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as being among the first organised workers in the world to achieve an eight-hour day, with no loss of pay.[6]
Queensland
Labour Day was first celebrated with a public holiday in Queensland in 1865 as Eight Hours Celebration Day. It occurred on 1 March (Saint David's Day) and celebrated the winning of an eight-hour work day by Brisbane workers in 1858. The date was moved to May Day around 1896, in solidarity with the attack on United States workers on the first May Day parade in the Haymarket affair. In 1901, the holiday was moved to the first Monday in May, to ensure a long weekend.[7]
Bangladesh
Bangladesh Garment Sramik Sanghati, an organisation working for the welfare of garment workers, has requested that 24 April be declared Labour Safety Day in Bangladesh, in memory of the victims of the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse.[8][9] However, Bangladesh does observe May Day on 1 May.
The Bahamas
Labour Day is a national holiday in The Bahamas, celebrated on the first Friday in June in order to create a long weekend for workers.[10] The traditional date of Labour Day in The Bahamas, however, is 7 June, in commemoration of a significant workers' strike that began on that day in 1942. Labour Day is meant to honour and celebrate workers and the importance of their contributions to the nation and society. In the capital city, Nassau, thousands of people come to watch a parade through the streets, which begins at mid-morning. Bands in colourful uniforms, traditional African Junkanoo performers, and members of various labour unions and political parties are all part of the procession, which ends up at the Southern Recreation Grounds, where government officials make speeches for the occasion. For many residents and visitors to The Bahamas, the afternoon of Labour Day is a time to relax at home or perhaps visit the beach.[citation needed]
A Labour Day parade in Toronto, Ontario in the early 1900s
Labour Day (French: Fête du Travail) has been marked as a statutory public holiday in Canada on the first Monday in September since 1894. Its origins can be traced back to numerous local demonstrations and celebrations in earlier decades.[11] Such events assumed political significance when a labour demonstration in Toronto in April 1872, in support of striking printers, led directly to the enactment of the Trade Union Act, a law that confirmed the legality of unions.[citation needed] On 22 July 1882, a labour celebration in Toronto attracted the attention of American labour leader Peter J. McGuire, who organised a similar parade in New York City on 5 September that year. Unions associated with the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor in both Canada and the United States subsequently promoted parades and festivals on the first Monday in September. In Canada, local celebrations took place in Hamilton, Oshawa, Montreal, St. Catharines, Halifax, Ottawa, Vancouver and London during these years. Montreal declared a civic holiday in 1889. In Nova Scotia, coal miners had been holding picnics and parades since 1880 to celebrate the anniversary of their union, the Provincial Workmen's Association, first organised in 1879. In addition, in 1889, the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labour and Capital in Canada, chaired by James Sherrard Armstrong (1886–88) and Augustus Toplady Freed (1888–89), recommended recognition of an official "labour day" by the federal government.[citation needed] In March and April 1894, unions lobbied Parliament to recognise Labour Day as a public holiday.[citation needed] Legislation was introduced in May by prime minister Sir John Thompson and received royal assent in July 1894.[12]
China
1 May is a statutory holiday in the People's Republic of China. It was a three-day holiday until 2008, but was only one day after 2008.[13] However, the actual time off is often longer than the time off in the regulations, and the extra time off is usually supplemented by another two weekends, but since the extra time is not under an official holiday, the extra days must be "made up" by working on the preceding or following weekend.[14][15] For example, in 2013, 1 May fell on Wednesday. Most workplaces, including all government offices, took 29 April (Monday) to 1 May (Wednesday) as days off. As the first two days were not statutory holidays, they had to be "made up" by working the preceding weekend (27 and 28 April).
In 1972, prime minister Michael Manley promoted Labour Day as a showcase for the importance of labour to the development of Jamaica, and a day of voluntary community participation to beneficial projects.[18] Since then, Labour Day has been not only a public holiday in Jamaica, but also a day of mass community involvement around the country.
Labour Day, a public holiday in Kazakhstan, is celebrated on the last Sunday in September. The holiday was officially established in late 2013. In 1995, the government of Kazakhstan replaced International Workers' Day with Kazakhstan People's Unity Day. Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev also instituted a special medal that is awarded to veterans of labour on the occasion of the holiday. Labour Day it is widely celebrated across the country with official speeches, award ceremonies, cultural events, etc. It is a non-working holiday for most citizens of Kazakhstan because it always falls on a weekend.[20]
Kenya
A public holiday in Kenya, Labour Day is commemorated yearly every 1 May. This celebration is usually marked with song and dance as Kenyans gather at designated locations to celebrate and listen to speeches from the leadership of the country. Francis Atwoli, Secretary General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) has been vocal in spearheading the celebrations in the country while advocating for favourable working conditions for the Kenyan people.
On 1 May, people in Malaysia take the time to remember the economic and social accomplishments of the labour movement.
Also known as May Day, this public holiday is sometimes celebrated with groups organising parades, rallies or both, to promote and protect workers' rights.[22]
New Zealand
Labour Day (Māori: Te Rā Whakanui i ngā Kaimahi) is a public holiday in New Zealand and is held on the fourth Monday in October.[23] Its origins are traced back to the eight-hour working day movement that arose in the newly founded Wellington colony in 1840, primarily because of carpenter Samuel Duncan Parnell's refusal to work more than eight hours a day. That year, Parnell reportedly told a prospective employer: "There are twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation".[24]
The first Labour Day in New Zealand was celebrated on 28 October 1890, which marked the first anniversary of the Maritime Council, an organisation of transport and mining unions.[25] Several thousand trade union members and supporters attended parades in the main city centres. Government employees were given the day off to attend, and many businesses closed for at least part of the day.[23] Initially, the day was variously called Labour Day or Labour Demonstration Day.[24]
In 1899, the government legislated that the day be a public holiday through the Labour Day Act of 1899. The day was set as the second Wednesday in October and first celebrated the following year, in 1900. In 1910, the holiday was moved to the fourth Monday in October.[25]
Pakistan
In Pakistan, 1 May is Labour Day and is a public holiday all over the nation.
In Switzerland, Labour Day on 1 May is not a federal holiday across the entire country, but several of the Swiss cantons have made it one of their cantonal holidays.[28] In the Canton of Fribourg, it is traditional for children to go singing at people's doors in exchange for sweets and money.[29]
Taiwan
Labour Day, observed 1 May, in Taiwan, is an official holiday, though not everybody gets a day off. Public servants, teachers and students do not have this day off.[30]
Tajikistan
Labour Day was celebrated on 1 May in the Soviet Union, and the tradition lives on in Tajikistan as International Labour Day Although Labour Day is a working day, folk festivals, performances and fairs organised throughout the country create a holiday atmosphere.[31]
In Turkey, 1 May (Turkish: Emek ve Dayanışma Günü) is an official holiday known as Labour and Solidarity Day. However, the state prohibits some demonstrations made by left-wing protesters, particularly those in Taksim,[33][34] which carries historical significance due to the Taksim Square Massacre on 1 May 1977.
United States
First US Labor Day Parade, 5 September 1882 in New York City
In the United States, Labor Day is a federal holiday and public holiday observed on the first Monday of September. It is customarily viewed as the end of the summer vacation season.[35] Many schools open for the year on the day after Labor Day.[36]
^Heron, Craig; Penfold, Steve (2005). The Workers' Festival: A History of Labour Day in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 31–38. ISBN0-8020-4886-2.
^""五一"假期延长至5天 解读黄金周背后的假如" ["May Day" holiday extended to 5 days: Explaining the assumptions behind the Golden Week]. Xinhuanet (in Chinese). Chengdu Business News. 28 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
^"新闻背景：香港回归15年大事记" [News Background: Events in the 15 years since Hong Kong's return to China] (in Chinese). China News Service. 1 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
^ ab"History of Labour Day". National Labour Day 2008. Jamaica Information Service. Archived from the original on 10 September 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
^"2023". Portal do Governo da RAE de Macau (in European Portuguese). Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
^Hector, Charles (December 2017). "The Labor Movement in Malaysia". hurights.or.jp. Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
