• arctanthrope@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    in the US we have a different holiday called Labor Day in early September, which was originally just because the weather is usually nice. in the late 19th century there were unofficial events on both days. when it was proposed to make one of them an official federal holiday, labor organizers were divided about which one it should be. the president at the time was a conservative, and thought that making May Day official would encourage solidarity with European workers, and commemorate the Haymarket affair, which he wanted to avoid, so he made the September one official.

    so we work on May Day, and Labor Day is a federal holiday. which means white collar people get the day off and service industry people work extra so that the white collar people can enjoy themselves