Worker’s Day celebrates the role played by Trade Unions, the Communist Party and other labour movements in the struggle against Apartheid. May Day, as we know it refers to various socialist and labour movement celebrations conducted on 1 May. May Day was born from the industrial struggle for an eight-hour day.
The 100th anniversary of May Day was commemorated on 1 May 1986. The South Africanlabour federation Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), formed in December 1985, demanded that May Day be recognised as a public holiday, Workers Day, and called for a stay-away.
Read More at www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-may-day-south-africa.