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Workers’ Struggles at Heart of May Day Holiday

Happy May Day!

In celebration of May Day, the offices of Global Justice Ecology Project will be closed.

Why May Day?

While May Day has its ancient roots in the celebration of the return of spring and the fertility of the land, it also has roots in the struggle of workers and in many parts of the world, May 1 is a worker’s holiday.

May Day has an important history in the US as well, and according to “Brief Origins of May Day” written by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW):

On May 1, 1886, more than 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States walked off their jobs in the first May Day celebration in history. In Chicago, the epicenter for the 8-hour day agitators, 40,000 went out on strike with the anarchists in the forefront of the public’s eye.

Learn more about the origins of May Day here.

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