Every year in the whole world this is labor day.
As everyone knows this is the day in which workers are celebrated. Do you want to know the origin of this celebration and its meaning? Are you also looking for something to do in Italy during this day of vacation? The article below is the one for you. Moreover, Italian Traditions presents you with the main events that usually take place in our country to celebrate and remember the struggle of workers for the reduction of the working day.
The origins
This holiday was born to remember the battles of the working class of the whole world. In particular of those aimed at conquering a very precise right. This is the request to reduce the daily working time, which is set at eight hours.
Its origin is made to coincide with an event organized on September 5, 1882 by the King of Labor association. Two years later, it was decided to celebrate the event on an annual basis.
But that’s not all, in fact the final choice regarding this date is however to be attributed to the serious events that took place in Chicago the first days of May 1886. These are known as the Haymarket revolt. These are violent clashes between police and workers at the Mc Cormick farm machinery company. The president of the United States then in charge Grover Cleveland decided to choose the date of the first of May to commemorate these incidents. Every year since then the labor day has been celebrated.
In Europe the introduction of this holiday took place in 1889 in Paris when the socialist delegates gathered here decided to introduce it. In Italy it was established a year later. During the Fascist domination, the date of the celebration was moved to April 22, the day in which according to the legend Romulus founded Rome. After liberation, it returned to the day of origin and the original meaning was given back to it.
Wait there is more, on this day one of the first attacks by the mafia took place. The incident occurred on May 1st , 1946 in Palermo when a group of criminals fired on the crowd of workers killing eleven people and wounding fifty. This is one of the first massacres by the criminal organizations that took place in our country.
The events
The best known celebration on this day in Italy is the great concert organized by the unions in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome. This has been organized since 1990 and has seen some of the best Italian and international artists who have made the history of music perform over the years. In recent years, other major cities of the peninsula have also begun to organize a concert in their squares to celebrate labor day. These are:
- Napes
- Milan
- Taranto.
After all, as you have seen, this day is full of meaning and celebrates the struggles of the workers to obtain their rights. The years pass but the problems related to the world of work remain almost the same. This is why today the celebration of May 1st is a very important moment for all workers.