What is May Day?
May Day history, meaning and significance in Los Angeles
Willa Needham | April 28, 2025
May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, is a holiday celebrating workers and the history of labor organizing. Every year on May 1st, working people around the world join together for a day of remembrance and demonstrations. The holiday is a significant display of international solidarity and worker power. In Los Angeles, May Day unites the labor movement with advocates for immigrant rights and other community organizations.
May Day History
The origins of May Day can be traced back to international labor organizing in the late 19th century. The holiday originated from a movement demanding improved working conditions and greater recognition for workers’ contributions. In 1884, a national federation of unions announced a campaign to establish an eight-hour workday by May 1, 1886. Workers in cities across North America went on strike leading up to that date in one of the era’s largest and most tumultuous periods of worker unrest.
In May 1886, police in Chicago shot striking workers, prompting activists to organize a protest in the city’s Haymarket Square. When a bomb exploded at that protest, killing one police officer and wounding others, police opened fire into the crowd, resulting in the deaths and injuries of both police and protesters. Eight protesters were arrested for inciting violence. The ensuing trial was considered by many to be unfair and resulted in the execution of seven of the eight men (1). This series of events would come to be known as the “Haymarket Incident” or “Haymarket Affair.” The image below is a newspaper clipping reporting on the executions from the Watertown Republican, November 16, 1887. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress’ “Chronicling America” digital project (2).
In the years following 1886, international labor groups and socialist advocates endorsed the commemoration of May 1st as International Workers’ Day or May Day. In some places around the world the “Chicago Martyrs” are still memorialized in May Day activities. A professor at California State University, Bakersfield, Gonzalo Santos, recounted that in Mexico during parades on Día del Trabajo, marchers would shout “¡Que vivan los mártires de Chicago!” (3). But in the U.S., May Day celebrations became less common during the height of the Cold War.
May Day vs. Labor Day
As a date honoring the contributions of working people, May Day is sometimes confused with Labor Day. So, what is the difference between May Day and Labor Day? Labor Day is celebrated in the United States and Canada on September 1st. The origins of this holiday are also rooted in the 19th century when the Central Labor Union organized the first Labor Day march on September 5, 1882 in New York City. It became an official federal holiday in 1894 (4). Unlike Labor Day, May Day is not officially recognized in the United States as a federal holiday. However, both holidays have ties to the American labor movement and both uplift the accomplishments of workers.
May Day in Los Angeles
May Day is celebrated around the world, but it has a special significance in Los Angeles. For many years, May Day events have turned out strong coalitions of immigrant rights and labor justice activists in the city. In the article “The Historic Power of May Day in Los Angeles,” Victor Narro, project director at the UCLA Labor Center and seasoned May Day organizer writes, “May Day in L.A. has always been a day of marches, rallies and educational events to celebrate workers and bring attention to their struggles” (5).
In Los Angeles, May Day is an important date for activists organizing for social change. Past May Day celebrations and rallies in L.A. have called attention to some of the most urgent challenges facing the community, including threats against immigrant rights. One example is the powerful “A Day without an Immigrant” action on May Day, 2006, when hundreds of thousands marched in Downtown Los Angeles in response to a punitive anti-immigration bill that would have heightened punishments against undocumented people (H.R. 4437) (6).
May Day 2025
In 2025, May Day is on Thursday, May 1st. The theme of May Day 2025 in Los Angeles is “One Struggle, One Fight, Workers Unite!,” organized by the May Day coalition. Nationwide actions are also being organized by May Day Strong. The Downtown Los Angeles march starts at Olympic Blvd and S. Figueroa St. at 9:00 am and ends at 5:00 pm.
The UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE), UCLA Labor Studies program and UCLA Labor Center have joined May Day celebrations and demonstrations to uplift labor and immigrant justice for years. Register for transportation to the march from UCLA campus here (priority is given to UCLA labor studies undergraduates and those studying related topics). Note that the bus is currently full, but we encourage you to fill out the form and be placed on our waiting list. If you have questions, please contact Liz Espinoza, Academic Programming Manager, eespinoz@g.ucla.edu.
References
- James R. Green, Death in the Haymarket : a story of Chicago, the first labor movement, and the bombing that divided gilded age America (New York: Pantheon Books, 2006)
- “Image 3 of Watertown republican (Watertown, Wis.), November 16, 1887,” Library of Congress, Chronicling America, National Endowment for the Humanities, accessed April 25, 2025, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85033295/1887-11-16/ed-1/?sp=3&q=McCormick+reaper+works&r=-0.063,0.303,1.096,0.453,0
- Gonzalo Santos, “The Bifurcated History of May Day in North America,” The California-Mexico Studies Center, May 1, 2024, https://www.california-mexicocenter.org/the-bifurcated-history-of-may-day-in-north-america/
- “History of Labor Day,” U.S. Department of Labor, accessed April 9, 2025, https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history
- “IRLE Voices: The Historic Power of May Day in Los Angeles,” UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, May 1, 2023, https://irle.ucla.edu/2023/05/01/irle-voices-the-historic-power-of-may-day-in-los-angeles/
- “Los Angeles Immigrant Rights March, 2006,” Memory Work Los Angeles, accessed April 10, 2025, https://memorywork.irle.ucla.edu/archives/998
UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) advances labor research and education for workplace justice. Through the work of its units – the UCLA Labor Center, the Labor Occupational Safety and Health program (LOSH), the Human Resources Roundtable, and its academic program, UCLA Labor Studies – the Institute forms wide-ranging research agendas that carry UCLA into the Los Angeles community and beyond.
