MAY DAY

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

London has been celebratiing May Day since at least 1890 (there is some evidence that there was activity in 1889). Throughout that time there has been a remarkable consistency about the demands and issues raised.

LMDOC wants to record that history and experiences from around the world to show what May Day is, and has been, all about. We will build up this section to try and cover most aspects.

We want to look at the origins of May Day which come from a number of sources. A key date has always been the Haymarket events in Chicago in 1886 which led to the Haymarket martyrs and the Second International adopting the call to make May Day an international day of workers action. A detailed history of the Chicago events can be found at http://www.chicagohistory.org/dramas/

But there were other streams flowing into this. A call for such a day had been raised in Australia since the 1850s as Rosa Luxemburg recorded. Similar calls had been made within the Chartist movement in Britain during the 1830s and 40s. May Day had also been a traditional peoples holiday and fair day - particularly strong in country areas - and that idea was brought into cities as urban population grew.

In London LMDOC supports the long fought for policy that ,May Day is held on May 1st. Many have tried to dilute that position and there have been bans by the state - as after World War ll. May 1st is the day when workers around the world celebrate together. In many countries that has meant risking death and imprisonment - such as in Turkey, Chile, Indonesia and Spain. It makes it important that we stand together internationally to oppose such attacks and to celebrate what unites us.