Happy International Workers' Day, 1 May

In the late nineteenth century American factory workers often laboured twelve to sixteen hours a day in hot, unsafe conditions for meagre pay. The movement for an eight-hour day grew inside the trade unions, which set a goal: from 1 May 1886 every workshop should adopt the new schedule.

On 1 May 1886 hundreds of thousands of workers across the United States went on strike, with Chicago at the centre of the action. On 4 May a rally in Haymarket Square ended with a bomb blast and bloody clashes that left many dead and wounded. The trials that followed angered and united labour movements around the world.

Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.

Slogan of the eight-hour day movement

On 14 July 1889, exactly a hundred years after the storming of the Bastille, the founding congress of the Second International met in Paris. To honour the Chicago workers, it chose 1 May each year as a shared day of action for workers of every country, with the eight-hour day as its first demand.

On 1 May 1890 the first international celebrations took place across Europe and the Americas, with rallies, marches and strikes. Over the following decades the eight-hour day was gradually written into the law of many nations. Today more than half of the world's countries treat 1 May as a holiday or a day to honour working people.

In Vietnam, International Workers' Day was first marked in 1930, right after the Communist Party of Vietnam was founded. On 1 May 1930, workers at the Bến Thủy match and sawmill factories joined farmers from nearby villages in Nghệ An to demand higher pay, shorter hours and lower taxes, opening the Nghệ Tĩnh Soviet movement.

In 1946, after the country had won independence, 1 May was celebrated openly nationwide for the first time. Decree 22c of 18 February 1946, signed by President Hồ Chí Minh, listed International Workers' Day among the official days off. Ever since, 1 May has remained one of the public holidays of Vietnamese working people.

The gains of that early movement are now written into the 2019 Labour Code: normal working hours may not exceed 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week, and employees get a paid day off for International Workers' Day. Anyone who works on the holiday must be paid at least 300% of their wage, on top of their holiday pay.

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, founded on 28 July 1929, and unions at every level use May for Workers' Month, with activities that support their members. May is also the Month of Action for Occupational Safety and Health, reminding employers to check machinery, protective gear and working conditions at every site.

Because it sits next to Southern Liberation Day on 30 April, 1 May creates a break of at least two days, longer in years when the weekend falls alongside. It is one of the busiest times of the year for travel, trips home and family gatherings. Beaches, resorts and bus stations are often booked out weeks ahead.

At work, many companies send thanks, give gifts or hold a gathering for employees before the break. Those who keep working through the holiday, such as plant operators, health workers, shop staff and couriers, receive holiday pay and extra attention from their colleagues. For many people it is also a moment to reflect on the work they do and the path they want to take.