International May Day Festival, an initiative of the International Trade Union (IUP) and other trade unions and community groups, is a celebration to mark the day following the International Workers’ Week. The slogan of May Day 2023 is “working for a better world.” This is a global day of action to celebrate workers’ rights. It is the nineteenth anniversary of the May Day strike when millions of workers in many countries took action for a better working conditions and better pay. Today May Day remains an international day of action and demonstration against low-paid and exploitative labor.
Workers’ rights demonstrations are part of the May Day tradition which goes back to 1830s in Germany. May Day Theme is the main feature of this event. It includes images like – worker wearing hard hats; workers sitting in long lines; and red banners with striking text. May Day Theme & Slogan depict the struggle for better wages and better working conditions for the workers. In the past, textile workers were badly treated by the capitalists. The May Day Theme music depicts the exploitation of textile workers in the cotton industry of England in the early 19th century.
Workers’ rights day was established to make the working conditions better for the textile workers in England. May Day Theme is related to the Industrial Workers’ Strike of the 19th century. An extract from the famous song ‘The Red Badge of Courage’, sung by Robert Kennedy, says – “I’ve been to the high noon on the red carpet, I have seen the red-carpeted offices, I have shaken the hands of the big bosses…” The theme and message are connected to the red-carpet treatment of factory workers by the industrialists during the early manufacturing era. May Day Theme is celebrated across the world on the first week of May. The main highlight of this event is the wearing of a red cap and hat on that day.
The worker’s struggles in textile industries during the early part of the 20th century made the worldwide aware of the sweats of textile workers. The May Day Theme celebrates the red caps worn by textile workers during the May Day parade. The revolution in Russia in October 1917 brought the workers’ strike to every country. The May Day Theme is related to the strikes by textile workers worldwide.
In India, the May Day Theme is related to the revolution in the textile industry. The Industrialists had reached a consensus at the Constituent Assembly to establish an Industrial Union. The theme of the Industrial Union is – “May workers unite.”
May Day Theme Music includes a number of classical songs. Some of the popular choices include the Russian Revolution Song, The Rainbow Song (Protestant), The song that opens the National History Museum in London’Glory to the Heroes’, The International Youth Festival song, The song that goes’Everywhere people fight, The sky is blue, The sun shines down above’ and ‘Strike!’. The songs give us a glimpse of the pathlessness of the early days of the revolution and how the workers fought for their rights. The revolution changed the faces of human history and laid the platform for progress.
