The global union movement is raising a unified voice May 1, International Workers’ Day, with workers gathering worldwide to celebrate the achievements of the trade union movement and call for action on issues, including workers’ rights, health and safety on the job and an end to poverty and discrimination.

In actions ranging from mass demonstrations to sports events and conferences, workers are highlighting the Global Unions Respect theme set by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which organized the May 1 mobilization.

“A call for respect makes perfect sense at a time when workers’ rights and necessary public services such as health and education risk being eroded by the globalization process,” says Guy Ryder, ICFTU general secretary. “We are using May 1—our own international workers’ day—to launch a trade union call for employers and governments to show respect for those in and out of work.”

In Washington, D.C., hundreds of janitors and their allies are rallying downtown in support of affordable health care as their contract expires. The Communications Workers of America is kicking off a major campaign to support employees at the Chinese Daily News and help them get a fair contract. Although the workers voted for the union in an election and prevailed in a hearing before an administrative law judge, management still refuses to recognize the union.

Solidarity Center Publishes Justice for All

In conjunction with May 1 celebrations, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity and the AFL-CIO released a new book, Justice for All: A Guide to Worker Rights in the Global Economy, a reference guide combining materials on international workers’ rights.

The guide provides timely information in the fight for global worker justice, including a detailed breakdown of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) core labor standards—the rights covering organizing and bargaining, discrimination and child labor. The guide also describes strategies to improve workers’ rights, evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of each.

At Risk: Women and Young Workers

Worldwide, May 1 events also seek to draw attention to groups especially at risk in the global economy, such as young workers and women, Ryder says.

In the Balkan region, young trade unionists launched a “Respect for Young Workers” campaign in Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia and Ryder participated in demonstrations with young workers in Moscow.

“Young people make up over 20 percent of the world’s workforce,” says Ryder. “Many are in increasingly precarious work, and yet they are the future of our movement. The message that workers get respect through trade unions must reach beyond our traditional audiences.”

Although the principle of nondiscrimination is well recognized as a basic workers’ right, women worldwide continue to be paid between 10 percent and 60 percent less than men, according to the ICFTU.

The May 1 global mobilization follows Workers Memorial Day, April 28, with unions in more than 100 countries taking part in events to honor the dead and fight for the living through improved safety and health at the workplace.

The ILO, a branch of the United Nations, reported that some 2 million job-related deaths occur each year around the world, and workplace injuries, deaths and illnesses cost some $1.25 trillion in annual losses in global gross domestic product.

International Workers’ Day in the United States

May 1 celebrations originated in the United States when the fledgling American Federation of Labor (then called the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada) passed a resolution stating that eight hours would constitute a legal day’s work beginning May 1, 1886.

Workers, required to put in up to 14 hours a day, supported the movement, which was seen as a threat by the U.S. government. Lawmakers renamed May 1 “Law Day” and, ironically, May 1 then became a day of worker celebration more in countries around the world than in the United States.

More Resources

See a roundup of May 1 global mobilization activities.

Get a copy of Justice for All: A Guide to Worker Rights in the Global Economy.     

Learn more about Workers Memorial Day.

Download the ILO report, Safety in Numbers: Pointers for a Global Safety Culture at Work.