by Ron Patterson

Many workers, activists and citizens in Canada are becoming familiar with local May Day celebrations. One of the most vibrant and interesting takes place in Edmonton. This ambitious event, which spans an entire week, is organized by the Edmonton May Week Committee. A short decade ago May Day was an event which was largely ignore and celebrated only by isolated groups across the country. The recent revival of modern May Day celebrations across the country seems to be a signal of new times within labour and social justice movements.

Traditionally, May Day was connected with ancient festivities associated with the arrival of spring. Across Europe May Day was celebrated in various forms. The day was marked as the end of winter and the return of the sun. It was usually celebrated with fertility rights and the worship of various deities, such as Diana goddess of the hunt and Bel the Celtic god of the sun. These celebrations enjoyed immense popularity with common folk up until the Middle Ages when the Catholic Church attempted to assimilate old pagan traditions in order to gain support for its own days of worship. The holiday was eventually outlawed, though it managed to survive in rural England where trade societies kept the celebration alive well into the eighteenth century.

By 1890 the labour movement adopted May Day as its own. The international labour movement selected the first day of May as its international day of action because it coincided with the re-opening of the struggle for the eight-hour workday by the American Federation of Labour. This date also had a strong resonance for labour because it was associated the memory of the Haymarket martyrs of 1886. The Haymarket affair was a pivotal point in early labour history.

By the mid 1880’s the eight hour movement experienced rapid growth. The American Federation of Labour declared that May 1st, 1886 would mark the beginning of a national strike for an eight-hour workday. Chicago was the heart of the labour activity, and when the strike was called, the entire city was brought to halt. On May 3rd police indiscriminately fired into a crowd of fleeing strikers; four were killed and scores more were wounded. The next day crowds gathered at a peaceful mass rally to protest the killings. Police attempted to disperse the crowd and a bomb was thrown killing eight policemen. The police used this tragic event to attempt to break the workers’ movement, and began rounding-up radical labour leaders and activists. After a remarkably unjust trial, at which workers were tried almost solely on their political beliefs, four of the anarchist workers were hung and others given long prison terms.

Drawing from both labour and pre-Christian traditions, May Day is a celebration with deep meaning for many people. The labour celebration is an "invented tradition" that grew out of a period of rapid change. The imagery of the energy and hope of spring fit well with the new and rapid growth of the early labour movement. From the beginning, art and imagery have played a central role in the event. Early reports describe "a profusion of colourful posters, postcards, banners and souvenirs, which depicted the growing power of workers." The early images produced for May Day often resulted in memorable and striking images that brought across the metaphor of "a great social awakening" more effectively than any of the written material or speeches that were delivered.

Across North America and Europe, the success of the first May Day celebrations was dramatic. In London, over 300,000 workers demonstrated in Hyde Park. Even though the theme of the event was the legalization of the eight-hour day, many other themes, such as the abolition of sweat-shop labour and the need for elected, working-class representation in Parliament, were also pursued. The success of the first events was undeniable. Even the anti-labour British press of the day was forced to observe that the event "had given proof of the unexpected capacity for concerted action on the most extended scale…throughout the world a universal topic this morning is the demonstration of labour." May Day provided a new tradition, a group identity and legitimacy for early social movements. This was something much needed in times of rapid social change. The success of early May Day celebrations assured the continuity of future events.

The strength of early demonstrations aroused fear among business and political elites in both Europe and North America. Locally, early May Day rallies regularly drew several thousand participants in both Edmonton and Calgary. In the United States in particular, the "well to do" saw May Day as being un-American and instead, albeit reluctantly, supported Labour Day as an "acceptable home-grown alternative" to May Day. Attempts to curb labour’s enthusiasm of May Day did not seem to work. North American rallies were well attended, especially during the upsurge in labour activity during the 1930’s. In fact, May Day continued to flourish until the Cold War era when anti left-wing sentiment in the U.S. and Canada reached its zenith. Conservative elements in America even attempted to draw support away from the popular labour rallies with a jingoistic "Loyalty Day Parade." Ironically, as May Day’s popularity declined in the U.S. it continued to attract and inspire workers throughout Europe and the rest of the world, even though it owed much of its history to the North American labour movement.

Unlike the U.S., the Canadian labour movement has not seen such a dramatic decline of this powerful symbol of its struggle. Thanks to many labour and community activists and artists from across the country, the traditions of May Day have been maintained and placed in a modern context. The Mayworks Festival of Working People was established in Toronto 15 years ago, and it has been the catalyst for bringing workers, artists, and community members together to celebrate labour’s history, and provide inspiration for the future.