May Day. But the Show Must Go on!

I WONDER HOW many of us know or remember what the May 1 holiday was all about. I am writing this column on Tuesday, April 29, and only remembered the holiday when a message from my Editor reminded me that since Thursday was going to be a holiday, my article was needed by Tuesday.

I smiled, for I had especially in the 1990s been involved in making presentations and participating in seminars centred around May 1 or May Day as it was called. The May 1 holiday is also referred to as Workers Day or Labour Day. It was for long celebrated on the first Monday in May before being changed to the actual date of the holiday which is May 1. This holiday came out of the fight for rights and better working conditions that led to the Haymarket Riots in Chicago, USA, in 1886.

At the Haymarket Square in Chicago a bomb exploded killing and injuring a number of persons. This sparked a day of solidarity and protests and labour activism. In 1889 a coalition of Socialist groups decided to commemorate that historic occasion. A number of countries around the world adopted it and made it a public holiday. Although the centre point of the holiday and the commemoration was Chicago, subsequent federal legislation in the US recognised September 1 as Labour Day, a date also adopted by Canada. I am not quite sure when the holiday started in SVG and other Caribbean countries, but the day selected was the first Monday in May. When the decision was made to have the official celebration/ holiday on May 1st, I supported it because we had forgotten, or in many cases were not aware of the origin of the holiday. I felt that having it on May 1, which meant celebrating it on any day on which May 1 falls would have forced us to remember, or at least seek to know the reason for the holiday. It never turned out that way for while in the past the trade unions celebrated the occasion, it became largely an occasion for picnics and party gatherings.

Actually, having the holiday on the first Monday in May benefitted Bequia and some of the other Grenadines. For they attracted a lot of visitors from neighbouring states like Barbados that had also had their celebrations on the first Monday. Some of our countries have now moved to the original May first date while others retain their celebrations on the first Monday. The Trade Unions in some countries organise activities to mark the occasion. In SVG Trade Unions are in a sorry state, with the exception perhaps of the Public Service and Teachers unions, so the holiday is just another holiday.

I have heard no announcements about activities by unions to mark the occasion. The last gathering I addressed at the compound of the Fish Market in the mid-1990s had representatives of the different unions. These are different times!

The Elections of April 28, 2025 Two general elections held on Monday generated some interest here. In Canada, Mark Carney who took over as leader of the Liberal Party from Justin Trudeau, was able to secure a win for his party, although not getting an overall majority. Justin Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau my favourite Prime Minister, opted out from his position as leader of the party and from politics in March.

Trudeau had served from 2015 to 2025. When he decided that his time was up the Liberals seemed to have been heading for defeat.

What saved the party based on feedback from Canada was the mad ravings of the US president speaking wildly about making Canada the US’s 51st state and slapping tariffs on the country, bypassing standing agreements. Canadians became angered and enraged at the behaviour of the president of their neighbouring country, a country with which they shared perhaps the longest border of any two countries. Carney seemed to have convinced them that he was the best person to stand up on their behalf against the wild one from the south.

Then there was Trinidad and Tobago where the PNM under Keith Rowley had controlled the reins of power from 2015. Rowley who had entered the political arena since 1987 as an Opposition Senator and had served as representative for Diego Martin for 9 consecutive terms from 1991 and leader of the PNM since 2010, decided that he had had enough especially when the political tide seemed to have been pulling strongly against the PNM. Having found favour with the PNM legislators, StuartYoung who was Minister of Energy and Energy Industries was selected as his replacement. Leader of the UNC Kamla Persad- Bissessar who became Trinidad and Tobago’s first female Prime Minister in 2010 winning as part of the Peoples Partnership Coalition with Winston Dookeran of the Congress of the People, now takes leadership of the country for a second time.

Eyes will now be focused on Jamaica and SVG. The JLP is seeking a third term while the ULP of SVG is dreaming of a sixth term.

One thing for sure is that unlike Canada and Trinidad and Tobago there will be no resignations among the leaders. For the Show Must Go On!

• Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian