Does americans/other celebrate the first of may? - Huh?

[Dawood]

Sweden has been under the rule of the Social Democratic Party for over 70 years now, it may not be communist, and not even socialist (any longer), but atleast it is a worker-movement (or was, anyway...).
for many years we have had The First of May as a day when you protest against all things that are wrong in society. I am just wondering, is this tradition Swedish or does it have it's roots/has it spread to other countries?

[nz revolution]

No, we love capitalism in our countries so we chose to just get on with our lives and hang out for the weekend to drink our beer and try and score chicks, could you ask for anything better?


Actually fuck all goes on here in New Zealand. This year I hope to run of posters to put up around uni, asking people to join the Anti-Capitalist Society or make up cool ones saying to enlist in the "Workers and Students Militia"

[Donut Master]

Here in the US, we do not celebrate May Day - in fact, I believe it is the only country where May Day is not officially recognised, despite the fact that it originated here!

[The Sniper]

Here in britian its a major event now in the radical left wing calender, and is a time when thousands of people take to the streets of the big cities (particually london) to protest. Untill a few years ago these protests where quite small and peaceful, but due to world affiers in recent years they have grown dramatically and have become far more anarcist. This year looks to be the biggest ever due to Iraq and the Bush and Blair situation, should be a damn good event.

[Ian]

Mayday originated in Australia! http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxembur/w...ks/1894/02.html (http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxembur/works/1894/02.html) before then It was not a working class holiday but a peasant celebration of the coming of spring or something like that.

[Iepilei]

Many people do not recognise May Day in America - infact, most don't even know what it is.

[Leftist Spider]

I know for sure that May Day is celebrated in the Middle East.

[il Commy]

May day in Israel:

We were 3,000 people from youth movments and social organizations marching in the streets of Tel Aviv. The biggest movment was "The Working and Studying Youth" (which I take part in).

We marched against the new economical programme of the right-wing goverment which destroys the wealth-state and sends thousands of workers to the streets while lowering the tax payment on those who gets paid more than 30,000 shekels a mounth (a worker gets paid 4,000 shekels a mounth). We marched against the occupation, the settlements and the racism.

May day 2003 is for us just the begining of a long struggle.

[革命者]

welcome on the board Commy!!

[il Commy]

Thank you Scotty.

[The Sniper]

Hmm i think that may day oridginated in Britian i think as a celebration of the spring. Sorta building on the druidic rituals but with a christian twist. This was about the middle ages i think, apprently it became more anti-establishment in the renassiance when loadsa workers had a day off work.

[Beano]

Just because it is not recognised doesn't mean you should let the system stop you from making it a day of protest. protest is away of letting the government know that they are not perfect. It just doesn't recognise our protest because it feels threatened how popular it could become if let to be official. I've seen how the US crack down on protests in such an example in the G* summit in Seattle. Any kind of protest from the left is a threat to them. They breed into young americans that the left is the scum of the world unlike over here where Socialist ideolgy is kind of accepted due to the old Labour party.
Just don't let them stop you because thats what they want!!!

[onepunchmachinegun]

In Denmark it have become a day where everybody drink lots of beer and have forgotten why they have the day off.
As a member of teh danish PGA (Peoples Global Action) I helped organising demonstrations, obedience actions and concerts...
It was awesome to see people that actually did something to celebrate the 1st of may as it really should!

[Edelweiss]

From http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5202/mayday.htm:

Our modern celebration of Mayday as a working class holiday evolved from the struggle for the eight hour day in 1886. May 1, 1886 saw national strikes in the United States and Canada for an eight hour day called by the Knights of Labour. In Chicago police attacked striking workers killing six.
The next day at a demonstration in Haymarket Square to protest the police brutality a bomb exploded in the middle of a crowd of police killing eight of them. The police arrested eight anarchist trade unionists claiming they threw the bombs. To this day the subject is still one of controversy. The question remains whether the bomb was thrown by the workers at the police or whether one of the police's own agent provocateurs dropped it in their haste to retreat from charging workers.

In what was to become one of the most infamous show trials in America in the 19th century, but certainly not to be the last of such trials against radical workers, the State of Illinois tried the anarchist workingmen for fighting for their rights as much as being the actual bomb throwers. Whether the anarchist workers were guilty or innocent was irrelevant. They were agitators, fomenting revolution and stirring up the working class, and they had to be taught a lesson.

Albert Parsons, August Spies, George Engle and Adolph Fischer were found guilty and executed by the State of Illinois.

In Paris in 1889 the International Working Men's Association (the First International) declared May 1st an international working class holiday in commemoration of the Haymarket Martyrs. The red flag became the symbol of the blood of working class martyrs in their battle for workers rights.

Mayday, which had been banned for being a holiday of the common people, had been reclaimed once again for the common people.