Melbourne: March on May Day

Shelley

CELEBRATE MAY DAY
Come along and march under the Architects for Peace banner (you can't miss it).
Sunday May 1 : Assemble 2pm @ Victorian Trades Hall, cnr Victoria St and Russel St

Anonymous

May Day was celebrated by the Celts and Saxons as the beginning of summer which was recognised as a day of fertility. A Maypole was often erected for young women and men to dance around and entwine the ribbon they carried with one another to find a mate…at least for the night. They called this day: Beltore.

By 1600 A.D. the church and country leaders throughout Europe began to ban this day of Pagan festivity. The traditions and customs of May Day continue to remain strong throughout much of the peasantry of Europe whose ties to one another and nature were very strong. Celebrations became increasingly festive with huge feasts and song and dance throughout the night.

After the Industrial Revolution the tradition survived with workers across Europe celebrating the First of May as the coming of Spring, the love of life and the strength of their community.

In the early 19th Century, workers in the Western World were made to work as long as 20 hours per day. In Australia in 1856 a group of workers, mostly stone masons and other skilled building workers, won an 8 hour working day from their employers.

Soon after it became a wide spread principle to work an 8 hour day without a reduction in pay. It was widely celebrated as a world first and Australia was known as a ‘working man’s paradise’. To celebrate this, a procession was held.

In 1879, a paid public holiday was proclaimed by the Victorian Government. 1000s of people turned out for the marches that commemorated the winning of the 8 hour day and there were great parades.]

After World War II, the holiday of these celebrations was moved to the second Monday in March, the Labour Day holiday as we know it. By 1953 businessmen had turned it into Moomba and the significance was lost.

Back in America in 1884 the US Federation of Organised Trade and Labour Unions had passed a law declaring that as of May the 1st 1886 an 8 hour work day would be the full and legal workday for all US workers. The US employers did not recognise this and there were massive strikes across the Western World. People died in these disputes, fighting for their rights.

This all started in Australia. Our fathers fought for their and our futures so we wouldn’t have to struggle as they did. Lest we Forget. As someone said: those that forget history are condemned to repeat it.