International Labour Day 2021: Wishes, Significance and few Important Facts

International Labour Day 2021: Beyond the popular holiday, which falls on a weekend this year, May 1 is an important date in the history of Jérôme workers. May Day is Labor Day. The first time we dedicated a day to work was in France in 1793. The 1st Pluviôse in other words January 1st. But the idea of ​​a day dedicated to workers’ demands was born in the USA.

And if May Day was chosen, it is because on that day, in 1884, the American unions launched a strike to obtain the 8-hour day. Strikes fought by the police, and which often cause injuries or even deaths as in 1886. In Paris, in 1889, the Socialist International, in turn, made May 1 a symbolic date. It also takes up the Americans’ demand for a maximum of 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, or 48 hours a week.

International Labour Day 2021: Historical Significance

Illustration of the first American Labor parade held in New York City on September 5, 1882 as it appeared in Frank Leslie’s Weekly Illustrated Newspaper’s September 16, 1882 issue.

May 1 takes its name as Labor Day in 1890. A day of demonstrations and strikes. And it is also dangerous to participate in this day of demands for workers. In France, on May 1, 1891, in Fourmies in the North, clashes between demonstrators and the police who had come to disperse them left 10 dead, including 2 children.

The Soviet Union made May 1 a public holiday in 1920. In France, it did in 1946. Today, many countries have made Labor Day an important time of the year. It is a public holiday in almost all of Europe, except the Netherlands and Switzerland. It is also a holiday in many countries of the world: in Russia, Brazil, Japan, Senegal, or the Dominican Republic among others. It should continue to be celebrated in the future. Work is universal. And so is the fight to protect workers. We don’t stop the story.

 

Labor Day is taking place this Saturday, May 1, 2021, confinement or not. While last year, the unions found themselves unable to pound the pavement, this year, they are reviving the tradition. Many processions will be deployed throughout France to celebrate International Workers’ Day, under a common banner: “Just Solidarity and Sustainable”. The demonstrators will nevertheless have to bring an exceptional travel certificate.

International Labour Day 2021: Public Holiday

The traditional question of stores open on this holiday takes on a particular aspect for this May 1, 2021, under the background of the Covid-19 health crisis. Are the only stores essential to the Nation that can remain open during confinement closed? Find below the list of stores that may be open, the events organized, and everything you need to know about the origins of Labor Day.

Dream Time

For florists, Labor Day is a very important day each year for their turnover: around 7 million euros each year. And that’s good because this year the lily of the valley harvest will be exceptional and the points of sale will be open, unlike last year, something to delight the 14,000 French florists. According to producer Philippe Naulleau, interviewed by France Info, “the bells are very fit this year thanks to generous weather”, while “last year, we had a blank year. We collected 20% of the volume of lily of the valley “. While last year the confined florists had encountered huge losses, to the tune of 80%, this year the optimism is in order and orders for lily of the valley have exploded. “J’I ordered twice as much as usual, ” says a florist in La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, president of the Loire-Atlantique florists’ union, in Ouest France.” It’s a gamble, but there are some signs that make me say that we are going to have people ” .

The tradition of treating yourself to a sprig of lily of the valley “lucky charm” every May 1st has a very distant past. During the period of ancient Rome, the Florals – feasts given in honor of the flower goddess Flora – honored the lily of the valley, then shared in quantity. As for the Celts, they celebrated its flowering before the start of summer. In France, the tradition dates back to the Renaissance period of Charles IX who, on May 1, 1561, decided to offer lily of the valley every May 1 to the ladies of the court. A tradition that was picked up in La Belle Epoque by Christian Dior and other famous couturiers who offered lily of the valley to their employees … All about the history of Labor Day, the tradition of lily of the valley and the reason for this day holiday in the file below.

Labour Day Wishes

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