2. • It is also known as Labour Day or May Day
• It is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted
by the international labour movement, anarchists, socialists, and
communists and occurs every year on May Day, 1 May.
• Being a traditional European spring celebration, May Day is a national
public holiday in many countries, but in only some of those countries is
it celebrated specifically as "Labour Day" or "International Workers'
Day". Some countries celebrate a Labour Day on other dates significant
to them, such as the United States which celebrates Labor Day on the
first Monday of September.
What is International Workers Day?
3. • Beginning in the late 19th Century, as the trade union and labour
movements grew, a variety of days were chosen by trade unionists as a
day to celebrate labour. It was first proposed in the 1880s.
• 1 May was chosen to be International Workers' Day in order to
commemorate the 4 May, 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. The police
were trying to disperse a public assembly during a general strike for the
eight-hour workday, when an unidentified person threw a bomb at the
police. The police responded by firing on the workers, killing four
demonstrators
• The congress made it "mandatory upon the proletarian organizations of
all countries to stop work on 1 May, wherever it is possible without
injury to the workers.“ Across the globe, labour activists sought to make
May Day an official holiday to honour labour and many countries have
done so.
History of International Workers Day
4. • May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various
socialist, communist and anarchist groups. May Day has been an
important official holiday in countries such as the People's Republic of
China, North Korea, Cuba and the former Soviet Union. May Day
celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in
these countries
• The protests in Britain…
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_RTht6P5JA
How it is celebrated