Although the 1st of May is an internationally recognized public holiday, following the same reason, it is still approached differently. In the USA and Canada, this day is essentially disregarded. The chief basis is that this holiday is considered as a socialist holiday. People commemorate this day with strikes, industrial antagonism, rebellion, and sometimes with the Marxist revolution. Of course people nowadays celebrating the “Labor Day” are not Marxists or Socialists in most of the cases. With the decision of not paying attention to this, America has its labor day on the first Monday in September. It is celebrated in an organized way by several labor associations to point out the strengths and contributions towards the American economy and industries.
Of course in Socialist countries, the celebration focuses more on the praising of the working class, whereby in democratic states, this day is often used to demonstrate for more rights, higher wages and better working conditions. Organized marches hand in hand with labor unions are very conventional. During the cold war, East Germany and Russia held huge parades, flaunting their armor power to vast crowds of people, and to the world through the visual media. Hours of waving flags and cheering towards the leaders, whilst rockets and troops passed by were a normal occurrence during that time.
Historically, Labor Day was called Beltane, a Pegan (a form of belief before Christianity was invented) celebration which can be translated to “Day of fire”. It is a Gaelic May Day festival, and as of the 1st of May, it marks the half way between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. This was originally observed in Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. This was furthermore celebrated to look forward to the coming summer and its fertility.
A similar former tradition is called Floralia, and can be found on the Roman calendar. This was a religious festival in honor of the goddess Flora during the Republican era.
From the political side, the 1st of May is sometimes used to introduce new laws, like showing in Germany (NRW – One of the states in Germany), where smoking in Bars will be prohibited. China had introduced a new anti-corruption law in 2011, and in Belgium the national motorcycle driving license is replaced by the European license.
Although Christianity had hijacked most of the existing holidays, by renaming them into their favorable terms, such as Christmas, Easter and All Saints day, the introduction of secularism was able to turn back some of this development. Under this falls the Labor Day celebration, this truly can be observed as a non-religious and secular celebration. And days like Easter and Christmas are now sharing their way of celebrating next to each other. The religious and the secular approach are reflecting next to each other in the public scene of the nations. Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny, as invented figures have taken over the mythology of Religion in the commercial sector, as people have already accepted these as marketing strategies worldwide. Valentine's Day falls also under this group. Although also known as the Feast of Saint Valentine and can be observed on the 14th of February, this day is mainly celebrated in a very secular and human way, and many people around the world do not link this day to Christianity, exceptions could be in the Philippines or other Christian strongholds and the Anglican church, where this day is celebrated to renew the marriage vows. Other public holidays without any religious affiliation are, New Years Day, Winter Solstice, Summer Solstice, Groundhog Day, Independence Day, several national heroes’ days, Mother's Day, and Father's Day for example.
Labor Day is celebrated officially in more than 80 countries and in several more unofficially.
Yet for the average employee, it is just another day off and double-pay reward to the prospective working day. And whatever approach this day has, it is truly a holiday set by humans for all humans.
By Thomas Fleckner
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