International Worker's Day, May Day, Labour Day, International Labour Day         01-05-2023     International Workers’ Day Labor Day has deep roots in the 130 years of the labor movement and its efforts to improve workers’ conditions across the globe. Some argue that it is just as relevant today to highlight the challenges workers still encounter. Labor Day is often a day for parades, demonstrations, and sometimes riots in major cities around the world. Paroles can include women’s rights, immigrant working conditions, and the erosion of workers’ conditions. The demonstrations usually happen on May 1 and are often referred to as May Day Protests. Why Is May 1st a Holiday? With the growth of the Industrial Revolution came the demand for labor and trade unions. Around the 1850s, eight-hour movements across the world aimed to reduce the working day from ten to eight hours. At its first congress in 1886, the American Federation of Labour called for a general strike on May 1 to demand an eight-hour day, which culminated in what is known today as the Haymarket riot. At the demonstration in Chicago, an unidentified bomb went off in the crowd, and the police opened fire. The altercation killed several police officers and civilians, and more than 60 police officers and 30 to 40 civilians were injured. In the aftermath, civilian sympathy landed with the police, and hundreds of labor leaders and sympathizers were rounded up; some were sentenced to death by hanging. Employers regained control of workers, and ten or more hour workdays became the norm again. In 1889, the Second International, a European federation of socialist parties and trade unions, designated May 1 as International Workers’ Day. To this day, the first of May has become the symbol for workers’ rights worldwide.