May 1: International Workers' Day

Manuel Van den Broucke, editor for sport, society and politics, May 1, 2025

Origins of Labour Day

In October 1884, the main American trade union federation adopted a resolution in Chicago setting May 1, 1886 as the date on which the eight-hour day would come into force, a goal taken up by the Knights of Labor, the largest workers' union of the time. The choice of May 1 coincided with "Moving Day" in the United States, the moment when employment and rental contracts came to an end, notably in New York, allowing workers to mobilise without fear of being dismissed. On May 1, 1886, nearly 350,000 workers stopped work in more than 1,200 factories, and around 80,000 demonstrators marched in Chicago. Following this mobilisation, the bloody repression of a demonstration at Haymarket Square in Chicago left several people dead. In response to these events, the International Socialist Congress in Paris officially established May 1 as a worldwide day of protest for the reduction of working hours.

Social rights won

The eight-hour day came into force in France with the law of April 23, 1919. In 1936, the Popular Front set the forty-hour week and granted two weeks of paid leave through the decrees of June 12, confirmed by the law of June 20. After the Liberation, the ordinance of October 4, 1945 established Social Security, covering illness, retirement and family allowances. The decree of January 22, 1950 created the SMIG, the first guaranteed inter-professional minimum wage; it became the SMIC in 1970 and was indexed to the cost of living. The law of December 22, 1972 laid down the principle of equal pay between women and men, reinforced by the Roudy law of 1983 and the Génisson law of 2001. The prevention of occupational risks advanced with the law of December 6, 1976 on occupational medicine and then the law of December 31, 1991, which transposed the European directives. The individual right to training was established by the law of May 4, 2004 and was transformed into a personal training account in 2013. The Labour Law of August 8, 2016 introduced the right to disconnect, while that of September 5, 2018 reformed unemployment insurance and secured career paths.