Added: 01/29/2006 |
The History Of May DayMay Day can be dated back to the early 1800's some where in Australia. The May Day celebration began as a day off of work and evolved from there to the May Day holiday that is now celebrated. The original May Day was meant to happen only once, on a day in 1856 where workers would take the day off of work and celebrate the day. This May Day theme evolved until the holiday May Day celebrations were continuing to the next year. It was not until 1886 the May Day was made a national holiday with the help of the labor union. May Day was conceived in response to workers not wanting to work more than eight hour days as was the norm of the time. This spawned problems for these workers as the work stoppage was threatened by law and still the workers refused to continue working until the next day. The companies finally gave up as they allowed for the May Day celebrations to continue through the years.
The first to follow the example of May Day that Australia had set was the US, who decided that they would need a day from work that would be a holiday for the workers and their families. The Labor Day holiday was born and now people all across the country have the day off though very few of them know why or what the true origins of the holiday are. Workers the world over began demanding the first of May off as a way to celebrate the eight hour work day. Even in Europe, May Day started as a revolt against the companies who forced them to work much longer than the eight hour work day. This did not stop them as they revolted on the same day as Australia, bringing the rest of the world up to speed with the needs and desires of the working class from all over the world. This stands to reason as most people do not under stand the difference between Labor Day and May Day celebrations. The only real difference is the May Day celebrations are simply to underscore the eight hour work day that so many workers the world over wanted so bad. The pending revolt caused changes in the government policy which would require employers to pay overtime when they have their employees work longer than eight hours. This was not the most popular ruling of the day across the world as most employers were paying pennies on the dollar anyway for more work than most people will accomplish in their entire work week. The ruling was fought but in the end the workers of the world were victorious which has been called the best victory for the working class since the minimum wage has been established.
By the end of the 1800's there were many changes in the way that the world does business especially relating to employees who require fair compensation for their time and a regular work day that does not exceed eight hours unless more money is paid. Which was very lucky for most people as they did work more then 8 hours, so the prospect of them gaining more money was always going to brighten up their moods. If the amount was high then you could guarantee that many more people would have been willing to work more then 8 hours. After all 8 hours is a long day but the chance to work for more money after 8 hours kept everyone happy.
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