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May Day Madness?
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By Tristan CanoYou are all no doubt well rested after your long-weekend break, but you may be wondering why were you celebrating May-Day on the seventh of May this year?
In 2006 the first of May landed on a Monday so was celebrated as a bank holiday on that day. However since the first of May fell on a Tuesday this year, the powers that be decided that the bank holiday should be moved forward to the subsequent Monday. With the exception of a small TGWU representation at the Piazza, the first day of May therefore went by last Tuesday like any other day in Gibraltar.
It is true that the first of May means many different things to different people. The day was an important holiday in pre-Christian pagan cultures, and a more secular version continued to be observed as Europe became progressively more Christian. It is traditionally celebrated in the towns and villages of England with Morris Dancers, dancing round the Maypole and events such as the crowning of the May Queen. Furthermore and most crucially, the first of May has for over a hundred years commemorated the social and economic achievements of the international labour movement.
PROTESTS
These celebrations originated as a remembrance of Chicago?s Haymarket protests in 1886 which saw the first significant steps towards the kind of workers rights which we nowadays enjoy. These protests saw several casualties amongst police and workers and the first of May was thereon chosen as a day for workers to commemorate the struggles of the working classes. As time went by however, the first of May began to take on an unfortunate side agenda, becoming at times synonymous with unruly worker demonstrations.
The May Day Riots of 1894 and 1919, and recent anti-capitalism demonstrations in London such as the one in 2000 are cases in point. Whilst the 2000 demonstration resulted in clashes between the police and protesters, these unsavoury scenes have thankfully not been repeated in recent years.
In Gibraltar the first of May was traditionally celebrated by workers who gathered peacefully regardless of what day of the week it landed on. This was facilitated by having a bank holiday on that day. In 2001 however the government attempted to make changes to this tradition by making it so that the holiday would always be celebrated on a Monday. This was naturally opposed by the TGWU and on this occasion the proposed amendment was abandoned.
However the following year the government made moves to change the tradition yet again. They still encountered resistance from the Unions and the Leader of the Opposition tabled a motion in the House of Assembly requesting that this be reversed. May 1st was once again restored the following year but now in 2007, we are celebrating ?May-Day? bank holiday on the seventh of May.
There are undeniably practical advantages to the current system For example, by celebrating on the subsequent Monday we are in-line with the UK?s preferred method. Long weekends are of course also a great opportunity to get away for a few days and often preferable to having a day-off mid-week.
IMPORTANT
However there are other more important issues at stake here. First of all is the fact that like many governmental decisions made these days, the people of Gibraltar were seemingly not consulted on the matter. We can only assume that the decision to change the day of the bank holiday was influenced by the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce who for years had been championing the idea of celebrating May Day on the nearest following Monday. However the resulted change has left many doubting the government?s affinity for Gibraltar?s working classes.
By moving the bank holiday we are diluting the importance of what should actually be a tremendously significant day for workers in Gibraltar. Local events this year, such as those surrounding the MOD job-cuts, have only served to highlight that even in the twenty-first century; workers? struggles are very much a reality. The historical events and ideologies which are commemorated on May-Day should not be so flagrantly disregarded merely for our own personal convenience.
By moving the holiday to a Monday, workers are less likely to get together and discuss the pressing political and social issues which affect us today. Surely this is a more important mandate than being able to spend a long weekend on the Costa.
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