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Facts about Labour Day

Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States and Canada since the 1880s. The September date has remained unchanged, even though the two governments were encouraged to adopt May 1 as Labor Day, the date celebrated by the majority of the world. Moving the holiday, in addition to violating U.S. tradition, could have been viewed as aligning U.S. labor movements with internationist sympathies.

Most other countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1, known as May Day. In Europe the day had older significance as a rural festival, but over time it has been replaced by the labour connotations of the holiday. The holiday has become internationalized and several countries hold multi-day celebrations including parades, shows and other patriotic and labour-oriented events.

In Germany, Labour Day was established as an official holiday in 1933 after the NSDAP rose to power. It was supposed to symbolize the new found unity between the state and the working classes. Ironically, just one day later, on May 2 1933, all free unions were outlawed and destroyed. But since the holiday had been celebrated by German workers for many decades before the official state endoresement, the NSDAP attempt to appropriate it left no long-term resentment.

In Australia, Labour Day is October 1 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In the Northern Territory it is called May Day but (unlike in most other countries with such a holiday) occurs on May 5, not May 1. In Victoria it is the second Monday in March, and March 1 in Western Australia and Tasmania (the latter calls it Eight Hours Day).

In New Zealand, Labour Day is a public holiday held on the 4th Monday in October. Its origins are traced back to the 8 hour working day movement that arose in the newly founded Wellington colony in 1840, primarily because of carpenter Samuel Parnell's refusal to work more than 8 hours a day. He encouraged other trademen to also only work for 8 hours a day and in October 1840 a workers meeting passed a resolution supporting the idea. On 28 October 1890, the fiftieth anniversary of the 8 hour day was commemorated with a parade. The event was then celebrated annually in late October as either Labour Day or Eight-Hour Demonstration Day. In 1899 government legislated that the day be a public holiday from 1900. The day was celebrated on different days in different provinces. This led to ship-owners complaining that seamen were taking excessive holidays by having one Labour Day in one port then another in their next port. In 1910 the government "Mondayised" the holiday so that it would be observed on the same day throughout the nation. See: Labour Day: A History - from NZHistory.net.nz (http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/Gallery/Labour/index.html)

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