May 1st, Labour Day, is meant to commemorate the struggles of the past for workers’ rights and to acknowledge the achievements that have been made. It all began in 1866 in Chicago (Illinois), following a major strike called by workers to demand more acceptable working conditions. As a result, a law was passed for the first time limiting the working day to eight hours, officially coming into force on May 1st, 1867.
Lasting three days and resulting in the death of eleven people (the Haymarket affair), involving both protesting workers and several police officers, the strike in the United States became an event of such magnitude and impact that from 1890 onwards the anniversary spread internationally.
Today, more than 80 countries observe Labour Day, although some of them choose to celebrate it at different times of the year rather than on May 1st: Switzerland and Australia, for example—where it depends on the cantons in the former and on states and territories in the latter—and the United States itself, which, together with Canada, celebrates it on the first Monday in September.
This year, at Finking, we have decided to celebrate by taking a long weekend through to Friday. See you on Monday!
