Labour Day

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Countries and dependencies coloured by observance of International Workers' Day or a different variant of May Day or Labour Day: Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend

Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its achievements. 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.

In most countries, Labour Day is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which happens on 1 May, originally chosen to commemorate the 1886 general strike which culminated in the Haymarket affair.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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.

International Workers' Day

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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.

Other dates

Australia

File:Hands off Timorese Oil - Brisbane May Day 2017 parade.jpg

A May Day parade in Brisbane in 2017

Labour Day is a public holiday in Australia on dates which vary between states and territories. In some states the date commemorates the Eight Hours Day march (see below). It is the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March (though the latter calls it the Eight Hours Day).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Western Australia, Labour Day is the first Monday in March.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Queensland and the Northern Territory, Labour Day occurs on the first Monday in May (though the latter calls it May Day).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is on the fourth Monday of March in the territory of Christmas Island.

Victoria

The first march for an eight-hour day by the labour movement occurred in Melbourne on 21 April 1856.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="LewisBalderstone2006">Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>Radical Brisbane (2004), ISBN 0958079455, pp 231–4.</ref>

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.<ref name = "dwelle2404">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Canada

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File:1900s Toronto LabourDay Parade.jpg

A Labour Day parade in Toronto, Ontario in the early 1900s

Labour Day (Template:Langx) 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.<ref name="CanPedia">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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. Labour parades were held in several Canadian cities that day as well.

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In March and April 1894, unions lobbied Parliament to recognise Labour Day as a public holiday.<ref name="CanPedia"/> Legislation was introduced in May by prime minister Sir John Thompson and received royal assent in July 1894.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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).

Hong Kong S.A.R.

Labour Day, observed 1 May, has been considered a public holiday in Hong Kong since 1999.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

India

The first Labour Day was celebrated in India on 1 May 1923, in Chennai (then known as Madras), organised by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jamaica

Before 1961, 24 May was celebrated in Jamaica as Empire Day in honour of the birthday of Queen Victoria and her emancipation of slaves in Jamaica and the West Indies.<ref name="jam">Template:Cite web</ref> As its name suggests, the day was used to celebrate the British Empire, complete with flag-raising ceremonies and the singing of patriotic songs. In 1961, Chief Minister, Norman Manley, proposed the replacement of Empire Day with Labour Day, a celebration in commemoration of 23 May 1938, when Alexander Bustamante led a labour rebellion leading to Jamaican independence.

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.<ref name="jam"/> Since then, Labour Day has been not only a public holiday in Jamaica, but also a day of mass community involvement around the country.

Japan

A public holiday in Japan, Labour Day is officially conflated with Thanksgiving on 23 November, as Labor Thanksgiving Day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kazakhstan

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.

Macau S.A.R.

In Macau, 1 May is a public holiday and is officially known as Template:Lang (Portuguese for 'Workers' Day').<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Malaysia

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

New Zealand

Labour Day (Template:Langx) is a public holiday in New Zealand and is held on the fourth Monday in October.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> 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".<ref name=":0" />

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.<ref name="Labour Day NZ">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name=":1" /> Initially, the day was variously called Labour Day or Labour Demonstration Day.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name="Labour Day NZ" />

Pakistan

Labour Day, or Youm-e-Mazdoor, is observed in Pakistan on May 1st as a public holiday to recognize the contributions and rights of workers. Officially declared a holiday in 1972 under Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, it was part of the country's first labor policy, which also introduced welfare initiatives for workers. The day is marked by rallies, seminars, and demonstrations organized by trade unions to highlight labor issues such as fair wages and safe working conditions. Government offices, banks, and many businesses remain closed in observance.

Poland

Labour Day is a public holiday in Poland, celebrated on 1 May. Together with Polish National Flag Day on 2 May and Constitution Day on 3 May - the latter also being a public holiday, coinciding with the Catholic holiday of The Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland - it typically forms a long May weekend, referred to as majówka, widely regarded as the informal start of the spring outdoor leisure season, marked with picnics, barbecues, local events and travel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Philippines

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A Labor Day protest in Manila in 2019

In the Philippines, Labor Day is a public holiday commemorated nationwide on 1 May. Initially observed in 1903 through a protest by the Unión Obrera Democrática Filipina in Manila during the American colonial era,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> it was officially recognised as a holiday in 1908, with the first official commemoration taking place in 1913.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Switzerland

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the Canton of Fribourg, it is traditional for children to go singing at people's doors in exchange for sweets and money.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Trinidad and Tobago

In Trinidad and Tobago, Labour Day is celebrated every 19 June. This public holiday was proposed in 1973<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to be commemorated on the anniversary of the labour riots led by Tubal Uriah Butler in 1937, part of the British West Indian labour unrest of 1934–1939.

Turkey

In Turkey, "Labour and Solidarity Day" (Template:Langx) became an official holiday in 2009. Prior to that, the day had been observed by workers and unions but had been banned for many years after the 1980 military coup. The turning point came in 2009, when the Turkish government, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, officially recognized May 1st as a public holiday again.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Demonstrations at Taksim Square carries historical significance due to the Taksim Square Massacre on 1 May 1977.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

United States

File:First United States Labor Day Parade, September 5, 1882 in New York City.jpg

First US Labor Day Parade, 5 September 1882 in New York City

Template:Main 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many schools open for the year on the day after Labor Day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The origins of Labor Day can be traced back to 1872.

References

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External links

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ToadShow Labour Day photographs, State Library of Queensland. Collection of photographs showing Labour Day events in Brisbane, Ipswich, Gold Coast and Barcaldine between 1998 and 2012.