International Workers' Day, often referred to as
May Day, is a celebration of laborers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labor movement and occurs every year on
May Day (1 May). In 1889,
May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day by the socialists and
communists of the Second International, as well as anarchists, labor activists, and leftists in general around the world, to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago and the struggle for an eight-hour working day. They adopted a resolution for a "great international demonstration" in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day. The 1904 Sixth Conference of the Second International,
… Read more called on "all organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the class demands of the
proletariat, and for universal
peace". The first of May is a national, public holiday in many countries across the world.
The Haymarket affair was the aftermath of a
bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour workday after police killed one and injured several workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at the police as they acted to disperse the meeting, and the bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; dozens of others were wounded. In the internationally publicized legal proceedings that followed, eight anarchists were convicted of
conspiracy. Seven were sentenced to death and one to a term of 15 years in
prison. The Haymarket Affair is generally considered significant as the origin of International Workers' Day held on May 1, and it was also the climax of the social unrest among the
working class in America known as the Great Upheaval.
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