Why May 1 is not a day off in the Netherlands

NOS News•today, 09:50

Today, workers all over the world are taking to the streets or taking the day off because it is Labor Day. That hardly happens here in the Netherlands. How did that happen?

For the origins of Labor Day we have to go to the United States. From May 1, 1886, hundreds of workers went on strike at an agricultural machinery factory in Chicago. They demand a maximum working day of eight hours. On the fourth day the situation becomes grim when the police intervene and an explosive is thrown at the officers. Seven police officers and four demonstrators are killed.

After the demonstration, the police arrested prominent trade union leaders and anarchists. Despite flimsy evidence, they are sentenced to death.

In memory of this event, the American Federation of Trade Unions began a nationwide strike on May 1 in 1888. They are demanding the same thing as the demonstrators in Chicago: an eight-hour working day. “Until then, there were no restrictions whatsoever for employers. Twelve-hour working days, all week long, were very normal,” says Lex Heerma van Voss, researcher at the International Institute of Social History.

The date of May 1 is also adopted in other countries after the American demonstrations. The most important requirement, an eight-hour working week, is the same everywhere. The right to vote for workers is also added to the list of demands.

In the Netherlands, demonstrations have been held every year on May 1 since 1890. Only almost thirty years later did these demonstrations have the intended result: the eight-hour working week and the right to vote for workers were introduced in 1919.

In the former Soviet countries they have abolished all communist holidays except May 1st.

The Netherlands has never declared Labor Day a national holiday. Many other countries have done so at some point. This often happened when a left-wing or extreme right-wing government came to power, explains historian Heerma van Voss.

For example, in 1933 the Nazis in Germany declared May 1 a national holiday. “In doing so, they took the wind out of the sails of the socialists, who were advocates of Labor Day,” says Heerma van Voss. Spanish dictator Franco did something similar. He made May 1 a feast day for Saint Joseph, the Catholic patron saint of workers.

“That has never happened in the Netherlands. If May 1 is a public holiday, it is very difficult to get rid of it,” says Heerma van Voss. “In the former Soviet countries in the Eastern Bloc, they have abolished all communist holidays except May 1.”

Another argument that is often mentioned for not making Labor Day a Dutch holiday is that there are already many public holidays around that period. For example, May 1 is only four days before Liberation Day (which is only an official holiday once every five years) and Queen’s Day was celebrated on April 30 for decades.

“It is an argument that is often mentioned, but it is illogical,” says Heerma van Voss. “Japan, Poland and Serbia also have a number of holidays around May 1. They say: we make it a week.”

Trade union FNV thinks it is a shame that May 1 is not a national holiday in the Netherlands. “We would like to reflect once a year on the importance and strength of the trade union movement,” says chairman Tuur Elzinga. “The trade union is not only something from the past, but is of great importance now. It is really not a luxury and not something from the time of grandparents.”

A number of collective labor agreements contain agreements regarding May 1st. For example, cleaners can take time off on either their birthday or on May 1, and at the municipality of Amsterdam employees can choose between May 1 or any other day of the year.

FNV chairman Elzinga does not mention May 1 as an issue that is at the top of the wish list in collective labor agreements. “But from time to time we agree that it is a day off.” FNV employees themselves also have a day off on May 1.

The union has been organizing a meeting in Amsterdam on Labor Day since 2015. “We want to claim May 1 to celebrate our struggles and successes. Since 2015, this has become a little more exuberant. Last year we had around 6,000 people on our feet.”

According to Elzinga, this turnout proves that Labor Day has not lost any of its relevance. “At that time in America it was not just about the eight-hour working day, but also about employment conditions in general,” he says. “That’s still what it’s all about. We have become richer as a country, but the wealth has ended up in very few pockets.”