For many workers, Labour Day is a day of celebration and a day of rest. But for Andrew Pfannkuche, it’s also a day for study. The doctoral student is the first at the University to have chosen to do his PhD thesis on Labour Day and its influence around the world.
“The First of May is the one truly global holiday, and my thesis is an attempt to show how the day travelled the world in the hearts and minds of activists who believed that things can be better”, says Andrew, who specifies that this year marks the 134th May Day celebration. He considers the holiday to be a recognition of a commonality we all share:
‟ One thing we all have in common is that we work.”
Andrew completed his Master’s in Contemporary European History. “As part of the Deep Data for Digital History (D4H) programme I get to use software to map the spread of the holiday across time and space,” he says. “Every country and every city have their own story about the First of May, but a truly global history remains elusive.”
He also observes how Labour Day demands have changed over the years. Back in 1890, workers asked for an eight-hour day. Then they rallied against war and imperialism, for the right to retire, for a two-day weekend, for a clean environment, for the rights of women and more recently for the LGBTQ+ community.
Andrew expects to submit his PhD thesis in September 2027.
Labour Day is celebrated on 1 May, but some countries around the world have selected other dates. The United States and Canada, for example, have chosen the first Monday in September. In Luxembourg, Labour Day is one of three non-religious public holidays in the calendar, alongside Europe Day and the National Day.
The researcher
