May Day is a public holiday usually celebrated on May 1. It is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. Dances, singing, and cake are usually part of the festivities. In the late 19th century, May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day by the Socialists and Communists of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in Chicago. International Workers' Day may also be referred to as "May Day", but it is a different celebration from the traditional May Day.
International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day or Workers' Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement which occurs every year on May Day (1 May), an ancient European spring festival.
The date was chosen by a pan-national organization of socialist and communist political parties to commemorate the Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago on 4 May 1886. The 1904 Sixth Conference of the Second International, called on "all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace."
Efforts to switch Labor Day from September to 1 May[citation needed] have not been successful. In 1921, following the Russian Revolution of 1917, 1 May was promoted as "Americanization Day" by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other groups in opposition to communism. It became an annual event, sometimes featuring large rallies.[citation needed] In 1949, Americanization Day was renamed to Loyalty Day.[citation needed] In 1958, the US Congress declared Loyalty Day, the US recognition of 1 May, a national holiday; that same year, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed 1 May Law Day as well.
In 2006, 1 May was chosen by mostly Latino immigrant groups in the United States as the day for the Great American Boycott, a general strike of undocumented immigrant workers and supporters to protest H.R. 4437, immigration reform legislation that they felt was draconian. From 10 April to 1 May of that year, millions of immigrant families in the US called for immigrant rights, workers' rights and amnesty for undocumented workers. They were joined by socialist and other leftist organizations on 1 May. On 1 May 2007, a mostly peaceful demonstration in Los Angeles in support of undocumented immigrant workers ended with a widely televised dispersal by police officers. In March 2008, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union announced that dockworkers will move no cargo at any West Coast ports on 1 May 2008, as a protest against the continuation of the Iraq War and the diversion of resources from domestic needs.
On 1 May 2012, members of Occupy Wall Street and labour unions held protests together in a number of cities in the United States and Canada to commemorate May Day and to protest the state of the economy and economic inequality
On 1 May 2017, immigrants' rights advocates, labor unions and leftists held protests against the immigration and economic policies of President Donald Trump in cities throughout the US, Chicago and Los Angeles having some of the larger marches.
Had to look up to see what you were referring to.
Since I do not actively participate in any social group affairs I do not apply. I do however, personally agree with many of the issues protested and rallied on.
