1st May is celebrated as International Workers Day or Labour Day to commemorate the existence of working classes. This day was marked as the “great international demonstration” in support of working-class demands. As Karl Marx had said, “workers of the world unite”. This date has been marked for campaigning demands for the eight-hour day of work for every worker.
Therefore, to mark the day of every worker in the world. Here are some of the books to know more about the struggles, and pains of the working-class people and also to get the knowledge about their working conditions.
‘May Day- A Graphic History of Protest’ by Mark Leier**
This book traces the development of International Worker’s Day, May 1st. Against the ever-changing economic and political backdrop in Canada. Recognizing the importance of work and the historical struggles of workers to improve their lives, with a particular focus on the struggles. The comic includes the reader as part of this history, and the story concludes that “we are all part of this historical struggle; it’s our history and our future”.
‘May Day’ by John Sommerfield***
This novel is a work of fiction so sharply written its prose still excites, so relevant it could be describing events in the modern-day. The core of the book is straightforward and familiar. The owners of an East London factory are bullying their workers into speeding up production and cutting corners to increase profit margins. Beyond the factory gates, a rebellion is brewing, and the events that follow take place across three- days. Which leads to industrial action by busmen and a march into central London on May 1st.
‘Incendiary’ by Chris Cleave****
The novel is centered around a May Day terrorist attack during a soccer match in the years following September 11. The novel is written in epistolary form or letter- form to Osama Bin Laden. From a point of view of a young mother whose husband and son were killed during the attack. Associated with Mayday and also the eerie similarities with a series of terrorist bombings.
‘Kids on Strike’ by Susan Campbell Bartoletti***
This illustrated book describes the difficult working conditions that made many workers, including children, go on strikes. From mill worker’s strikes in 1828 and 1836, and the coal strikes. The novel turned the century to the work of Mother Jones who stood up against child labor.
