Workers Memorial Day and May Day
April 15, 2008 – 7:08 amThe first Workers Memorial Day was designated by the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and observed in 1989. April 28 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the day of a similar remembrance in Canada. It is a day of remembrance and recognition of workers who have been killed or injured on the job.
Trade unionists around the world now mark April 28 as an International Day of Mourning.
May Day or as it was sometimes called,the International Workers Day, has it’s origins in the movement for an 8 hour work day in the 19th century. While it has often been associated with the former Soviet Union, it is marked by parades though out most of the world. In the United States May 1st was designated “Law Day” by President Eisenhower in 1958.
