By Jérôme Goulon.
Today, May 1st, France celebrates Labour Day. This day is a public holiday, a day off work with pay for most employees. It is also marked by union demonstrations and the tradition of giving lily of the valley as a good luck charm.
May 1st holds a special place in the French calendar. It doesn't originate from a religious holiday, a military victory, or a traditional national commemoration. Its roots are social and international, linked to the demand for an eight-hour workday, championed by labor movements at the end of the 19th century. In France, May 1st is therefore simultaneously a day of rest, a day of remembrance, a day of protest, and a popular tradition.
A spring tradition before it became a worker's day
Before being associated with work, May 1st was linked to spring traditions. In rural European societies, the month of May marks the return of warmer weather, flowering, and vegetation.
In France, lily of the valley is gradually becoming a lucky flower. The tradition of giving it at the beginning of May is ancient. It is often linked to the Renaissance, particularly to Charles IX, who is said to have given lily of the valley as a sign of good luck in the 16th century.
This floral tradition did not originally correspond to Labor Day. It initially belonged to popular spring customs. But over time, it became intertwined with the social history of May 1st. Today, lily of the valley is one of the most visible symbols of this date. It is sold in the streets, at florists, by associations, and by individuals. It gives May 1st a family and popular dimension, distinct from but complementary to its union-related significance.
The 19th century: very long working days
The May Day workers' holiday originated during the industrialization period. In the 1th century, the development of factories, mines, workshops, and large manufacturing plants profoundly transformed work. Working days were often very long. In several sectors, workers toiled ten, eleven, or twelve hours a day, sometimes even more. Wages were low, accidents frequent, and social protections limited. Child labor still existed in many industrial settings.
The question of working hours then became central. For workers, reducing the daily working hours meant obtaining more rest, preserving their health, having family and personal time, and improving their dignity. The rallying cry became that of the eight-hour day: eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, eight hours of leisure or personal life. This demand became one of the major objectives of the international workers' movement.
1884: Recognition of trade unions in France
In France, a significant step was taken with the 1884 law recognizing freedom of association. This law allowed workers to organize more freely to defend their professional interests. French trade unionism gradually became structured. Demands focused on wages, working hours, safety conditions, the recognition of collective rights, and the right to strike. This trade union organization paved the way for the large-scale May Day mobilizations.
1886: The Chicago strikes, an international starting point
The direct origin of May 1st as International Workers' Day lies in the United States. On May 1, 1886, strikes and demonstrations were organized in several American cities to demand the eight-hour workday. The movement was particularly significant in Chicago.
On May 4, 1886, during a rally in Haymarket Square, a bomb exploded. The police intervened. Police officers and demonstrators were killed. Several anarchist activists were arrested, convicted, and some were later executed. These events profoundly marked the international labor movement. Chicago became a symbol of the struggle for the eight-hour day and of the repression of social movements.
1889: Paris sets the date of May 1st
In 1889, an international socialist congress was held in Paris. The delegates decided to organize a major international day of action to demand the eight-hour workday. The chosen date was May 1, 1890, in reference to the American strikes of May 1, 1886. From this decision onward, May 1 became an international day of workers' demands. In several countries, workers were called upon to demonstrate on the same day for the same cause. France thus played a significant role in establishing May 1 as a global day of social mobilization.
1890: The first May Day workers' demonstration in France
On May 1, 1890, demonstrations were organized in France to demand the eight-hour workday. At that time, May 1st was not a public holiday. Workers who participated in the rallies or stopped work risked losing their wages, facing penalties, or being arrested. The first French May Days were therefore days of struggle, not official holidays. Demonstrators often carried red symbols, the color associated with the labor movement. The red rosehip was more prominent than the lily of the valley in the activist imagination. The date gradually became established as an annual event for the working class.
1891: The Fourmies massacre, the French tragedy of May 1st
On May 1, 1891, in Fourmies, in the Nord department, a workers' demonstration was organized to demand the eight-hour workday. Fourmies was then a textile manufacturing town. Workers there toiled in difficult conditions. The days were long, wages low, and social tensions high. The demonstration was part of the movement launched the previous year around the slogan of the eight-hour day. As elsewhere in France, workers wanted to make May 1st a day of social protest.
Authorities fear unrest. The army is deployed in the city. Several incidents occur in the morning, and arrests are made. Tensions rise throughout the day. In the late afternoon, a crowd gathers near the town hall. Demonstrators are demanding, among other things, the release of those arrested earlier. Soldiers are positioned facing them.
The situation deteriorated. The soldiers opened fire on the crowd. The toll was heavy: nine dead and dozens wounded. Among the victims were young workers, some of them teenagers. One of the most well-known figures of that day was 18-year-old Marie Blondeau, who became a symbol of the tragedy.
The Fourmies shooting deeply shocked public opinion. It left its mark on French social history. It demonstrated that May 1st was not merely an abstract day of protest, but a day linked to real clashes between the labor movement, local employers, the state, and law enforcement. After Fourmies, May 1st took on a powerful memorial dimension in France. It remained associated with the demand for an eight-hour workday, but also with the memory of workers killed during social struggles. Fourmies thus became one of the foundational events in the history of May 1st in France.
1895: The creation of the CGT and the entrenchment of trade unionism on May 1st
In 1895, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) was founded. It became one of the main organizations of the French labor movement. From the late 19th century onward, May 1st became firmly established as a day of union activity. Demands focused primarily on working hours, wages, working conditions, and the recognition of workers' rights. The day remained closely monitored by the authorities. Public officials regularly feared unrest, strikes, or clashes. May 1st thus retained a militant character. It was still not a public holiday. To participate in the marches, workers often had to risk losing a day's wages.
1906: a strong mobilization for the eight-hour day
At the beginning of the 20th century, the demand for an eight-hour workday remained central. In 1906, the CGT (General Confederation of Labour) made May 1st a key date for mobilization to secure this demand. The authorities implemented significant security measures. The day was marked by strikes, tensions, and arrests. Even though the eight-hour workday was not immediately achieved, May 1st confirmed its role as a pivotal moment in the balance of social power. This period demonstrates that May 1st is a tool for collective pressure.
1919: The eight-hour day is recognized in France
After the First World War, the social situation changed. France emerged from the conflict with heavy human losses, a weakened economy, and strong social expectations. In 1919, the law of April 23rd established the eight-hour day and the forty-eight-hour week in many sectors. This was a significant victory for the labor movement. The long-standing demand, championed since the beginning of May Day, finally gained legal recognition.
May 1st, 1919, was also declared a public holiday. The date then gained greater prominence in French social life. This achievement did not, however, bring an end to May Day. The day continued to be used to champion other demands: wages, social protection, pensions, union rights, unemployment benefits, working conditions, and safety.
The interwar period: a day of trade union and political activity
In the 1920s and 1930s, May 1st remained an important day for trade unions and left-wing parties. The French labor movement was divided among several currents: socialists, communists, anarchists, revolutionary syndicalists, and reformists. These divisions influenced the marches, slogans, and forms of mobilization.
Following the creation of the French Communist Party in 1920, May Day also took on a more pronounced political dimension within a segment of the labor movement. It became associated with internationalism, solidarity among workers, and criticism of capitalism. In the 1930s, the economic crisis and the rise of authoritarian regimes in Europe also gave May Day an anti-fascist dimension.
1936: The Popular Front and major social achievements
In 1936, the Popular Front marked a crucial turning point in French social history. Following the left's electoral victory, major strikes erupted across the country. Many factories were occupied by workers. The Matignon Agreements and the subsequent social legislation brought several significant advances: increased recognition of union rights, wage increases, paid vacations, and the forty-hour workweek. May 1st was not solely responsible for these measures, but it belongs to the same historical narrative: that of workers' mobilizations for reduced working hours, improved living conditions, and greater recognition for employees. After 1936, the memory of May 1st became even more closely associated with major French social achievements.
From red to lily of the valley: the evolution of symbols
Originally, the symbols of May Day for workers were primarily red. Red is the color of the labor movement, social struggle, and the memory of repression. The red rosehip was long used as an emblem of May Day. It recalls workers' struggles and the victims of social movements. Lily of the valley, on the other hand, gradually became more prominent in the 20th century. It is less political, more familial, and more closely linked to spring traditions.
This evolution has changed the image of May 1st. The date retains its union significance, but it has also become a popular day, associated with happiness, renewal, and the gesture of giving a flower. Today, lily of the valley is the most well-known symbol of May 1st for a large part of the French population.
1941: Vichy creates the “Labor and Social Harmony Festival”
During the Second World War, the Vichy regime gave May 1st official status. In 1941, May 1st became the "Labor and Social Harmony Day." This wording reflected the ideology of the Vichy regime, which emphasized work, family, and nation. The regime did not adopt the workers' protest spirit of May Day. On the contrary, it sought to erase the idea of class struggle and to regulate relations between employers and employees within an authoritarian and corporatist framework.
The concept of "social harmony" is essential. It means that the regime wants to present work as an element of national unity, and not as a source of conflict between employees, employers, and the state. This period explains why the expression "Labor Day" is open to debate. Part of the labor movement prefers to speak of "International Workers' Day," an expression more faithful to the working-class origins of the date.
1947 and 1948: May 1st became a paid public holiday in Republican France
After the Liberation, May 1st was reinstated within a republican framework. In 1947, a law established May 1st as a paid day off. In 1948, it was officially designated a public holiday under the name of Labor Day. This status distinguishes May 1st from other public holidays. In France, it is the only public holiday that is a mandatory paid day off for the majority of employees, except in sectors where activity cannot be interrupted. When employees work on May 1st, they generally receive increased pay. This legal recognition marked an important step: a day born from worker mobilization became an official date on the French social calendar.
After 1945: an annual meeting of the trade unions
After the Second World War, May 1st became a regular day of action for French trade unions. The main union organizations participated at various times: CGT, Force Ouvrière, CFTC, CFDT, FSU, UNSA, Solidaires, and others. Demands evolved with the context. After the war, they focused on reconstruction, wages, social protection, and union rights. During the post-war boom, they also concerned the sharing of economic growth, working conditions, working hours, and public services. From the 1970s and 1980s onward, with rising unemployment and deindustrialization, May 1st also became a day to defend jobs and purchasing power.
1968: May 1st in a climate of protest
May 1st, 1968, preceded by a few days the major student demonstrations and strikes of May '68. The May '68 movement permanently transformed the French social landscape. It combined wage demands, workers' strikes, student protests, criticism of authority, and calls for the transformation of social relations.
After 1968, May 1st retained its trade union dimension, but it gradually opened up to other causes: women's rights, immigrants' rights, civil liberties, living conditions, the environment, and job insecurity. The day remained centered on work, but it also became a moment for the broader expression of social demands.
Since the 1970s: a transformed world of work
Since the 1970s, the world of work in France has undergone profound changes. The share of industry has declined. The service sector has grown. Mass unemployment has become entrenched. Forms of employment have become more diverse. May Day has adapted to these transformations. It no longer concerns only factory workers, even though this figure remains important in French social history. It also concerns employees, civil servants, healthcare workers, teachers, those in precarious employment, temporary workers, delivery drivers, self-employed workers dependent on platforms, retirees, job seekers, and young workers. Current demands focus in particular on wages, pensions, arduous working conditions, occupational health, working hours, public services, job insecurity, inequality, and purchasing power.
A day regularly marked by social news
Each year, May 1st reflects the prevailing social context. Some years, the marches are relatively small. Other years, they are quite large, particularly during major mobilizations against social reforms or periods of significant economic tension. Pension reforms, inflation, economic crises, social conflicts, concerns about public services, or debates about purchasing power can give May 1st a particular resonance. May 1st therefore often serves as an indicator of the social climate in France.
Labour Day or International Workers' Day?
The most common name in France is "Labor Day." It officially designates the public holiday of May 1st. But historically, the expression "International Workers' Day" is closer to the origin of the date. May 1st arose from an international workers' mobilization to obtain the eight-hour workday. "Labor Day" emphasizes work as a general value. "Workers' Day" emphasizes the people who work, their rights, their living conditions, their struggles, and their organizations. In France, the two dimensions coexist. May 1st is both an official labor holiday and a day of union demands for workers.
A three-dimensional day
Today, May 1st in France encompasses three main dimensions. The first is legal: it is a public holiday, a day off work with pay. The second is social: it is a day of demonstrations, union demands, and remembrance of the working class. The third is popular: it is the day for giving lily of the valley, a gift for good luck. These three dimensions stem from different histories. Spring traditions, 19th-century workers' struggles, 20th-century social legislation, and popular customs have gradually converged around the same date…
