The Real Labor Day is May 1. It was so effective for strike action that Congress outlawed it!

American unions declared May 1 as an annual strike date in 1885. Within 2 years, May 1 was an international sensation. By 1894, a general strike occurred. A deeply rattled Congress declared Labor Day needed to be on a random day in September instead.

Modern Situation: Labor Day is May 1 Worldwide… but not in the USA

• Almost every country in the world celebrates Labor Day on May 1.
• Despite inventing and popularizing the May 1 holiday, the United States celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday in September.

History: America Invents Labor Day on May 1

• The 1885 American Federation of Labor passed a resolution calling for coordinated strike action for an eight-hour workday effective May 1, 1886.
• On May 4, 1886, workers striking for the eight-hour workday in Chicago’s Haymarket Square were attacked by police. Violence ensued, multiple police and workers were killed. The state of Illinois took advantage of the situation to controversially execute a number of local labor leaders.
• The “Haymarket Affair” attracted worldwide notoriety to the May 1 date. Unions worldwide embraced May 1 as a coordinated strike date.
• By May 1894, the American Railway Union launched the closest thing the USA has seen to a general strike. The union ground rail traffic to a halt to the West of Detroit for months. Again, police violence ensued. Again, the government capitalized on the disaster to imprison labor leaders, including Eugene Debs.

So if this all started in the USA, why is the American Labor Day in September? Not on May 1?

• The American business community had grown terrified of the May 1 flashpoint that occurred every year. They were especially concerned about Americans finding solidarity with international workers movements. A divided labor force is easier to rule.
• A mere SIX days after the rail strike was finally beat down in 1894, Congress rushed a bill through Congress to make the American Labor Day occur on the first Monday of September.
• In the 1950s, President Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 would be Law Day in the USA. His message was clear: You definitely shouldn’t strike on May Day, peasants!

Read More: A Modern Movement To Reclaim May 1 Has Begun

• Movement for a May 1 General Strike is Snowballing
• Decentralized Grassroots Workers preparing for a new annual strike on May 1

American workers, it’s time to reclaim May 1 for strike action!

Sources:

• archive.is/D0R2Y