May Day, unofficially known as ‘Union Christmas’ is celebrated globally on May 1st each year. Every May Day we celebrate our victories as a union and labour movement, we commemorate our defeats, and we dream of a better world to come.
May Day grew out of the struggle for the eight-hour day. Stonemasons in Melbourne and Sydney had won the eight-hour day as a general industry standard in 1856, setting an international benchmark. In the decades to come workers campaigned to extend the right to other industries.
On 1 May 1886 in the United States, somewhere between 300,000 to 500,000 workers took strike action for the eight-hour day. For the next three years in the U.S the Labour Movement was suppressed, but in 1890 a Global Day of Protest was held to commemorate the 1 May strikes.
The Australian Labour movement got involved the following year in 1891 with the Shearer’s Strike. In Barcaldine, Queensland, over 1300 workers took part, carrying Union banners and the Eureka Flag.
The original May Day protest quickly grew into global celebration of workers and our movement.
Join a May Day event in your State or Territory to celebrate this fantastic day.
New South Wales
Sydney – 01 May, Belmore Park – March to Parliament House (10:30am)
Queensland & NT
Events are being held from the 3rd to the 23rd of May in the following cities and towns: Alice Springs, Barcaldine, Blackwater, Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gold Coast, Darwin, Gladstone, Ipswich, Mackay, Maryborough, Moranbah, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Thursday Island, Toowoomba, Townsville and Weipa
Check out the details for your town or city
Tasmania
Devonport – 01 May, Formby Hotel Davenport (5pm)
Hobart – 24 May, CPSU carpark Victoria Street for a Parade and Family Fun Day (11:30am)
South Australia
Adelaide – 01 May, Light Square – May Day Rally (12pm)
Western Australia
Fremantle – 05 May, The Esplanade (10am)
Victoria
Melbourne – May 16, Vic Trades Hall – Labour Day Dinner Dance (6pm)