How did the May 1 holiday come about and what did it originally mean?
In May 1886, Chicago workers went on a mass rally, demanding that the exploitation of children be stopped and the working day reduced to 8 hours. At that time, working conditions provided for up to 15 hours of work daily. A wave of protests swept other US cities, including New York and Detroit, and in some cases escalated into clashes with police.
This initiative has received international support. In 1889, at the Paris Congress of the Second International, it was decided to hold annual demonstrations on May 1 in support of workers’ rights.
May Day 1890 was the first international Day of solidarity: marches and rallies demanding an 8-hour working day were held in several countries at once, such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the USA, Denmark, Austria—Hungary, Sweden, Norway and Spain.
In Russia, workers celebrated this day for the first time in 1891, in St. Petersburg, on the initiative of Marxist Mikhail Brusnev. However, it became an official holiday only after the 1917 revolution, and was named International Day.
Since 1928, May 1 and 2 have been declared non-working days in the USSR. The corresponding resolution was adopted by the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR. The first day was marked by mass demonstrations, and the second by informal trips to nature, the so—called mayakas.
In 2004, the second of May ceased to be a weekend: relevant changes were made to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, and now the holiday is officially celebrated only on May 1.
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