Tuesday 01 May 2012: Rallies, family meetings and cultural events marked the May Day celebrations at many places in the state today.The May Day is observed as International Workers Day commemorating the supreme sacrifices made by the workers in 1886 at Hay Market in Chicago, Illinois, USA in their fight for the eight-hour working day.
Several working people sacrificed their lives on May 1 of that year, as well as the days following days during a series of movements, bomb attacks, riots and police actions on agitating workers while they were on a three-day strike at Hay Market in Chicago.
The day - a public holiday - is marked with colorful rallies rejoicing in the triumph of the toiling masses. Trade unions and professional groups have drawn up programs to observe the day to press for improving the working conditions with better wages for the workers and job security.
May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. Although the commemoration of May Day as International Workers’ Day received its inspiration from the United States, the U.S. Congress designated May 1 as Loyalty Day in 1958 due to the day’s perceived appropriation by the Soviet Union.
People often use May Day as a day for political protest, such as the million people who demonstrated against far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in France, or as a day for protest against government actions, such as rallies in support of undocumented workers across the United States.
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