A young woman sits on a mountain top next to a Norwegian flag, overlooking mountains and clouds.

Medlemslivet i NITO

Why do we celebrate May 1st?

On 1 May, we will raise the Norwegian flag to celebrate International Workers' Day. Here is the history behind this important day.

Translated by AI

Many people think of 1 May as a nice extra day off in the spring, especially when the day falls on a weekday. "But why do we celebrate 1 May?"

1 May is an international day of demonstration for the labour movement. This day is the labour movement's International Day of Struggle, which came as an initiative from trade unions in the United States back to the 1800s.

This day was actually marked for the first time already back to 1890, but did not become an official flag day until after the war, in 1947.

Eight-hour working day

With the Industrial Revolution came the emergence of factories that meant that working people worked long hours of up to 16 hours, in a working week that lasted at least six days.

The working conditions were often hazardous to health. The factory owners often exploited the workers ruthlessly, and people often worked under poor conditions.

In order to improve conditions, it was absolutely necessary that the workers came together and organized. We got the first trade unions.

There have been many issues: Employment contracts, wages, equal pay, equality, the right to lunch breaks, holidays and so on.

At the end of the 1800s, the commemoration was made in the form of demonstration marches. The eight-hour day was the main slogan in several countries. In Norway, the eight-hour day was implemented in 1919 when the scheme was introduced into the Workers' Protection Act.

Why we have 1 May off

Why is the commemoration scheduled for 1 May, you may wonder?

According to SNL , the reason why the commemoration was held on May 1 is a demonstration that began on May 1, 1886 in Chicago.

At that time, 200,000 workers went on strike for the introduction of an eight-hour working day. The strike lasted for several days and led to several clashes between the protesters and police.

Did you know that...
It was Vidkun Quisling who first introduced a statutory day off on 1 May, in 1942 ("Labour Day"). It was then removed three years later, and reintroduced after the war, in 1947.

1 May - a day for community and solidarity

1 May is a day where we celebrate the struggles won by the labour movement. But it is still a day we mark the struggles we still face.

Because yes, there are still challenges in both Norwegian and international working life. Even today, there are imbalances in this country, but the challenges are significantly greater in other parts of the world.

This is expressed in demonstrations that are being arranged around Norway and throughout the rest of the world on this day.

May 1st reminds us of the good things we have and what we still have to stand up for. It is important to get organized. If we stand together, we stand stronger. If the degree of union membership decreases, we are in danger of the struggle for rights in working life eroding.