INTERNATIONAL LABOR DAY

    The International Labor Day or the International Worker's Day was celebrated worldwide every May 1. It was a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago where a group of workers held a peaceful rally in support of worker's striking for an eight-hour a day.  The peaceful rally was turn into violence when a unknown person threw a bomb at the police during the dispersal and resulted to the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians.  

    In 1887, Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a holiday and it became a federal holiday in 1894. Following the deaths of a number of workers during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement. The Congress unanimously declared Labor Day as a national holiday and signed into a law six days after the end of the strike.

    Typical Labor Day are celebrated with group demonstrations as well as the call to action for the government to address the worker's concerns such as more humane working conditions, wage increase, and the limit of number of working hours. The Catholic Church dedicated May 1 to Saint Joseph the Worker where the Church considers Saint Joseph as the patron saint of workers, craftsmen and people who fighting communism.

    Today, 80 countries are celebrating Labor Day as a national holiday every May 1. It is also celebrated unofficially in many other countries.