Breaking news
Global IWMD 2026: Record-breaking global mobilisation pushes workers’ safety demands worldwide

Türkiye Criminalised for Organising Women: 17-year Court Battle Ends in Union Victory Over Turkish Authorities [PSI] 07-05-2026

Global Hard as steel: workers stand firm at ArcelorMittal AGM [IndustriALL] 06-05-2026

Europe 1 May: unions declare Public Service Emergency across Europe [EPSU] 05-05-2026

Belarus 22 journalists spend World Press Freedom Day behind bars [EFJ] 04-05-2026

Global ArcelorMittal: enough is enough [IndustriALL] 04-05-2026

Global IFJ Centenary World Congress kicks off in Paris [IFJ] 04-05-2026

New Zealand NZEI te Riu Roa educators join chain of solidarity to mark International Workers Day [NZEI-Te Riu Roa] 01-05-2026

Global May Day 2026: No Step Back for Peace, Democracy, and Workers’ Rights [BWI] 01-05-2026

Global May Day: Fighting Back Means Getting Organised [PSI] 01-05-2026

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Today in Labour History

1898 Italy Bava-Beccaris orders troops and artillery to fire on protesters in Milan, including a monastery in Porta Monforte used as a homeless shelter. 400 dead and 2,000 injured.

1913 United States of America The garment workers strike at Cohoes could become an international incident after it emerges that Italian migrant workers are being forced to break the strike.[more]

1926 United Kingdom The Roman Catholic Church declared the ongoing British general strike 'a sin'.

1935 Jamaica Port workers in Kingston refused to load the MV Costa Rica. One of their complaints was that they were not being paid for their lunch hour and demanded a settlement. They won their demands.

1936 Greece In Thessaloniki police and soldiers attacked a workers' demonstration during a general strike against police repression, killing 12. It sparked more resistance and eventually Metaxas declared a dictatorship.

1970 USA Labor leader Walter Reuther was killed in a plane crash on May 9, 1970. He was 62. He helped develop strategies, including the sit-down strike, that won major union contracts.[more]

1972 Canada Leaders of the Québec Common Front go to jail for defying back to work laws during the April general strike. More than 300,000 workers participate in work stoppages and occupations that bring the provincial government back to the bargaining table[more]

1992 Canada An underground explosion takes the lives of 26 miners in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. A public inquiry into the Westray Disaster blames politicians, managers and bureaucrats for creating “a predictable path to disaster.”[more]

2001 France Ban on night work by women in industry lifted.

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