In most parts of the world, Labour Day is traditionally celebrated on May 1st and strongly associated with labour unions. Demonstrations, manifestations and political speeches are common. In northern Europe, May 1st also have an older significance as a holiday since various spring celebrations centred on this early spring date in traditional rural communities. In the United States and neighbouring Canada, Labor Day is instead celebrated on the first Monday of September and marks the summer vacation season rather than commemorating labour history.


The history of September Labour Day in North America dates back to the 19th century. In 1869, a group of Philadelphia tailors formed a labour union designed to protect workers. They called it “The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor”, but the name was later shortened to simply the “Knights of Labor”. Inspired by an annual labor parade in Toronto, they arranged a New York City labor parade that took place on September 5th, 1882. Two years later, they arranged their second labor parade in September and simultaneously passed a resolution to make the parade an annual September event. It would however take two years and a tragedy before the resolution was supported by the U.S. president.In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Union demanded an eight hour workday in the United States.

On May 1st, 1886, a general strike in support of the eight hour workday demand was arranged in Chicago and over 80,000 persons waked down Michigan Avenue. This is considered the first May Labour Day parade. Within a few days, over 350,000 workers had joined them throughout the United States. Over 70,000 workers employed by 1,200 factories participated in the strike on Chicago alone.


Strikes and peaceful demonstrations were however not the only thing that happened in Chicago in early May 1886. On May 4th, a peaceful rally gathered a large crowd at the Chicago Haymarket. An anarchist named August Spies held a speech, but everything seemed comparatively calm. The Mayor of Chicago who watched the beginning of the demonstration even left early since he was convinced that this crowd would cause no problems. After a while, the police ordered the workers to disperse and started to march in formation against the wagon from where the speech was held. At this point, a bomb was suddenly thrown at the police formation. As it exploded, it lethally injured eight policemen.

The police responded by opening fire on the crowd and killed eleven workers. Several dozens of workers were injured, and a lot of them did not dare to seek medical attention since they feared that they would be arrested at the hospital. U.S. President Grover Cleveland feared that May 1st would become an opportunity to annually commemorate the 1886 Haymarket Riot and he therefore rapidly decided to support the September Labor Day suggested earlier by the Knights of Labor.

Since then, U.S. residents have celebrated Labor Day in September. Compared to May Labour Day, the Labor Day celebrated in September is not a political day and demonstrations are uncommon. It is instead regarded as a way for families to get to together and say good bye to the summer season. Picnics, BBQ, outdoor sports and water activities are very popular.