TIL: International Labor Day is not a thing in the US
I did not expect to learn that International Workers’ Day, celebrated in over 80 countries, is not observed in the United States — even though it commemorates an event that took place in Chicago.
First of all, happy Labor Day! I hope you had a well-deserved day off, wherever you happen to be.
Now, I work remotely from Paraguay for an American start-up, and I gullibly expected that the whole office would be off today. We have a little section for OOO (Out of Office) announcements, and about a week ago, I tried to be funny by posting that I’d be out this Thursday.
Over the following days, only a handful of colleagues added their notices. April 30 came, and still, only about half the office had marked themselves as out. I asked what was going on—and that’s when I found out: May Day, though acknowledged, is not a public holiday in the U.S. The official Labor Day there is on September 1st, and that’s that.
Thank you!
P.S. Here’s a little write-up I asked ChatGPT to generate to help me understand why things are the way they are today.
Origins of May Day in the U.S.
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, originated in the United States, particularly in Chicago, as a result of the labor movement's push for the 8-hour workday, culminating in the Haymarket Affair of May 1886. This movement was so influential that, in 1889, labor activists around the world declared May 1st a day of remembrance and worker solidarity.
Yet ironically, the U.S. government distanced itself from May Day.
Why the U.S. Doesn’t Celebrate May Day
- Political Suppression: After the Haymarket bombing, authorities associated May Day with radicalism, anarchism, and later socialism and communism. It was viewed as subversive and un-American.
- Cold War Optics: During the 20th century, especially during the Cold War, the U.S. government sought to differentiate itself from socialist and communist countries, which heavily celebrated May Day with military parades and worker rallies.
- Creation of Labor Day (September): To offer a “safer” alternative, President Grover Cleveland supported the establishment of Labor Day in September—officially designated as a federal holiday in 1894. It was chosen to deflect attention from the more politically charged May Day.
The Irony
- The global labor movement commemorates a U.S. event — yet the U.S. itself disavowed the date.
- May Day is a federal holiday in over 80 countries, but not in the country where the events that inspired it actually happened.
