1st May - holiday in Germany

Today, it's a holiday in Germany: 1st May - Labour Day




(Translation: You are more. You are more than a number. You are more than an expense factor. You have dignity. Show it.)

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.

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.[citation needed]

Most countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1, known as May Day and International Workers' Day. In Europe the day has older significance as a rural festival which is predominantly more important than that of the Labour Day movement. The holiday has become internationalised and several countries hold multi-day celebrations including parades, shows and other patriotic and labour-oriented events.

* In Germany, Labour Day was established as an official holiday in 1933 after the Nazi Party, or NSDAP, rose to power. It was supposed to symbolise the new-found unity between the state and the German people. However, just one day later, on May 2, 1933, all free unions were outlawed and destroyed. But since the holiday had been celebrated by German workers for many decades before the official state endorsement, the NSDAP's attempt to appropriate it left no long-term resentment.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Day

Cheers,
Baby Owl

Baby owl wrote:

Today, it's a holiday in Germany: 1st May - Labour Day

Not just in Germany
Here in Ukraine too

Red owl wrote:

Baby owl wrote:

Today, it's a holiday in Germany: 1st May - Labour Day

Not just in Germany
Here in Ukraine too

In Russia also