Labor Day: where and why May Day is celebrated

In many Swiss cantons, May starts with a holiday: Labor Day. Today, May Day is mostly associated with large-scale demonstrations in major cities around the world, and in fact, the holiday is based on a 19th-century protest in the United States.

You can read exactly how this story happened, what is planned this year and what the requirements are here:

May Day’s origins go back to the “Haymarket Riots” or the “Haymarket Affairs”. For example, on May 1, 1886, the North American labor movement organized a general strike to force the introduction of the eight-hour day and improve general working conditions.

Also in Chicago, a meeting at the Haymarket was scheduled for May 1, which was accompanied by a multi-day strike. On May 3 and 4, street fighting broke out between workers and police officers, resulting in deaths on both sides. The eight organizers of the Haymarket meeting were subsequently charged and sentenced to death. Four of them – including the editor-in-chief of the local workers’ newspaper – were immediately executed.

Historians like to refer to the date of the “Haymarket Riots” as a key date in the development of the labor movement in the US, which subsequently grew in importance.

The organizers did not choose the date of May 1 by chance. As early as May 1, 1856, Australian workers demanded that working hours be reduced from twelve to eight hours a day. Based on this protest movement, this date was also chosen for the US and shows the very early internationalization of the labor movement.

At the founding congress of the Second International on July 20, 1889, May 1 was finally proclaimed as the international “Day of the Struggle of the Labor Movement” in memory of the victims of the “Haymarket Riots”. Finally, on May 1, 1890, demonstrations for more workers’ rights took place for the first time worldwide.

Labor Day is a public holiday in many countries. In Switzerland, only the national holiday on 1 August is regulated as a public holiday by the federal government. All others are judged by the cantons. In which cantons 1 May is a public holiday, you can find out here (scroll over the map for the information):

Events such as demos, festivals and public speeches are planned at about 50 locations across Switzerland. This is the program in the three largest cities of German-speaking Switzerland:

In Bern, where May 1 is not a public holiday, the unions are planning a move. Under the motto “More pay. More pension. Equivalence. Now!” is called for the meeting in Kramgasse from 4 p.m. The procession ends at the Bundesplatz, where several speeches are planned at 5 p.m. The trade unions want to draw attention, among other things, to the BVG reform adopted by parliament, against which they submitted a referendum.

The «Revolutionary May Day Alliance in Bern» has other plans: here the slogan is a bit more radical «Rolex for everyone!». Among other things, the company’s profits during crises, the CS rescue by the state, the working conditions in the care sector and the “inequality and violence between the sexes” can be criticized. A demo parade is planned from the station square at 6 p.m.

In Basel you get on the mat a bit earlier. The Basler SP and trade unions are calling for a demo meeting from 10 a.m. in De-Wette-Park. May 1 this year is all about the feminist strike: “Because women in particular finally need better working conditions, fair wages, fairer pensions and appreciation, whether it concerns paid or unpaid work.” A party is planned at Kasernenplatz from noon.

Reports in advance that the organizers want to keep the black bloc away from their demo parade caused a stir in Basel. To this end, left-wing groups in Basel have developed a demo code, a kind of code of conduct, for May 1 of this year. This was after property damage and personal injury on May 1, 2022, as black bloc members mingled with the protesters.

The largest demonstration on Labor Day takes place every year in the largest Swiss city. At the May Day Committee in Zurich, too, activities around Labor Day are centered around equality. The motto this year: “Jin Jiyan Azadî” – woman, life, freedom. In doing so, the committee expresses its solidarity with the fighters in Iran and at the same time shows an international perspective for the feminist movement. Keynote speaker is Iranian activist Niloofar Rasooli.

From 10 a.m., assembly for the May 1 parade will take place at Helvetiaplatz. The demonstration under the motto “Women’s work is worth more” is organized by the Trade Union Federation of the Canton of Zurich with the support of the 1 May Committee.

Labor Day is especially important in socialist countries. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the various Soviet republics celebrated the day with elaborate marches and celebrations.

Large-scale marches and military parades are held in Russia to this day on May 1.

But also in other places, such as Puerto Rico, large rallies take place every year.

In Switzerland, the rally in Zurich is one of the biggest events on Labor Day. The parade on the morning of May 1 is accompanied by a multi-day festival.

As the history of the holiday shows, it goes back to demonstrations in the US in the 19th century. Since then, many of these meetings have always been about improving working conditions, and the trade unions are closely involved in the organizing bodies.

However, the worldwide socialist movements repeatedly point to drastic differences, which had already led to the collapse of the umbrella organization. There are very different ideologies and ideas behind the demonstrations on 1 May.

With material from the sda