Workers observe May Day with marches and demos across the world | Photos

International Workers’ Day, also known as Labour Day in many countries and known as May Day, is a yearly event that celebrates workers and the working class.

Published on: May 1, 2025 8:49 PM IST

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Backed by the worldwide labour movement, Labour Day is marked every year on May 1 or, in some places, on the first Monday of May. (AP)

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The day stands for the workers, as a gratitude for their work and as a reminder for a fight for fair pay and good working conditions that is still going on around the world. (AP)

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On this day in 1889, a group of socialist groups and trade unions picked 1 May to show support for workers. They chose this date to remember the Haymarket Riot in Chicago (1886), where a bomb killed seven police officers and at least four other people. (AP)

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Five years later, US President Grover Cleveland, worried about the connection between Workers’ Day and socialism, made Labour Day an official holiday in the United States. (AP)

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Since then, Labour Day has grown into a global event. Millions of people take part in marches, rallies, and other events to honour workers and ask for their rights. (AP)

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In many countries, Labour Day is a national holiday. In India, the first Labour Day celebration was held in Chennai (then called Madras) in 1923 by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan. (AP)

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There were two gatherings—one at Triplicane Beach and another near the Madras High Court. At these events, a resolution was passed asking the British government to make 1 May a Labour Day and a public holiday.  (AP)

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Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions gather to attend a rally on May Day in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 1, 2025. The letters read "Let's win basic labor rights." (AP)

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Russian Communist Party's supporters with poster reading "Our goal is socialism, our banner is red", "first and most importantly - we all work for victory!" gather to mark Labor Day, (AP)