'May Day' refers to various socialist and labor movement celebrations conducted on May 1. A Labour Day is an annual holiday celebrated all over the world that resulted from efforts of the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. In this form, May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the working class and labor movement. In fact, May Day has long been a celebration of working class movements and struggle.

The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the eight hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. On 21 April 1856 Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne, Australia, stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight hour day. Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as the first organized workers in the world to achieve an eight hour day with no loss of pay, which subsequently inspired the celebration of Labour Day and May Day. However as the years rolled on May Day came to assume the form of a wider demonstration of workers' power.

International Workers' Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labour movement. May Day commonly sees organized street demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of working people and their labour unions throughout the world. Thus May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions and various socialist and communist parties. But how this can provide inspiration for today.

In fact, The United States has its own Labor Day holiday, celebrated on the first Monday in September instead of on May Day. In America, May Day is commonly celebrated as a commemoration of the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago, Illinois, which occurred on May 4, but was the culmination of labor unrest which began on May 1.

The first International May Day was proclaimed by the socialist Second International in 1889. However, the origins go back decades before this. The link between May Day and the use of the red flag as a symbol for socialist workers is close, perhaps above all in France.

Mayday Celebrations In Different Countries: Most countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1, known as May Day. In Europe the day has older significance as a rural festival which is predominantly more important than that of the Labour Day movement. In Germany, Labour Day was established as an official holiday in 1933 after the Nazi Party, or NSDAP, rose to power. In New Zealand, Labour Day is a public holiday held on the fourth Monday in October.

In Poland, Labour Day on May 1 was renamed "State Holiday" in 1990. In Sweden and Norway, May 1 is a national holiday celebrated through widespread demonstrations by the entire worker's movement. In Italy, May 1 is national holiday, demonstrations of the trade unions are widespread. Since the '90s, the trade unions organise a massive free concert in Rome, with attendances topping a million people. Socialist delegates in Paris in 1889 appointed May 1 as the official International Labour Day.

In Australia, the Labour Day public holiday is fixed by the various states and territories' governments, and so varies considerably. In Canada, Labour Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September since the 1880s. In 2007, Canada's Labour Day falls on September 3rd. Another major reason for keeping the current September date is that the United States celebrates its Labor Day on the same day. Synchronizing the holiday reduces possible inconvenience for businesses with major operations on both sides of the border.

It is important to remember both the history and traditions of May Day, not only because those in authority would like us to forget them, but also because in making May Day again a huge international celebration of working class politics and culture we can reappropriate this history and symbolism, and start to make some of our own.

Finally, for the last so many years 1st May is being observed as LABOUR DAY. But it is very unfortunate that through out the year not only workers but also executives of one or other section or department are going on strike for want of settlement of their legitimate demands as things are not being solved amicably. This is resulted a great loss to exchequer.

P.S. Prakasa Rao