Dear Comrades,
International Workers' Day (also known as May Day) is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions
throughout most of the world. May 1 is a national holiday in more than
80 countries. It is also celebrated unofficially in many other
countries.
India
The first May Day celebration in India was organised in Madras by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan on 1 May 1923.This was also the first time the red flag was used in India.The party leader Singaravelu Chettiar made arrangements to celebrate May Day in two places in 1923. One meeting was held at the beach opposite to the Madras High Court; the other meeting was held at the Triplicane beach. The Hindu newspaper, published from Madras reported,
The Labour Kisan party has introduced May Day celebrations in Chennai. Comrade Singaravelar presided over the meeting. A resolution was passed stating that the government should declare May Day as a holiday. The president of the party explained the non-violent principles of the party. There was a request for financial aid. It was emphasized that workers of the world must unite to achieve independence.
May Day is a nationwide bank and public holiday in India. The holiday is tied to labour movements for communist and socialist political parties. In Maharashtra and Gujarat, it is officially called Maharashtra Day and Gujarat Day respectively, since on this day in 1960 each attained statehood, after the old Bombay State became divided on linguistic lines.
International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago,
when, after an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they
dispersed a public meeting, Chicago police fired on workers during a
general strike for the eight hour workday, killing several demonstrators
and resulting in the deaths of several police officers, largely from friendly fire. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle,
following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international
demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891.
Subsequently, the May Day Riots of 1894 occurred. In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on "all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions
of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the
legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the
proletariat, and for universal peace." The congress made it "mandatory
upon the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May
1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers."
In many countries, the working classes sought to make May Day an official holiday, and their efforts largely succeeded. May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups. In some circles, bonfires are lit in commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs, usually at dawn. May Day has been an important official holiday in countries such as the People's Republic of China, Cuba and the former Soviet Union. May Day celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries.
In the United States and Canada, however, the official holiday for workers is Labor Day in September. This day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, who organized the first parade in New York City. After the Haymarket Square riot in May, 1886, US President Grover Cleveland
feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an
opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus he moved in 1887 to support
the Labor Day that the Knights supported.
In 1955, the Catholic Church dedicated May 1 to "Saint Joseph The Worker". The Catholic Church considers Saint Joseph the patron saint of (among others) workers, craftsmen, and "people fighting communism".
Right-wing governments have traditionally sought to repress the
message behind International Workers' Day, with fascist governments in
Portugal, Italy, Germany and Spain abolishing the workers' holiday, the
official May 1st holiday in the US being Loyalty Day, and the Conservative party in the UK currently attempting to abolish the UK's annual May Day Bank Holiday
