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La fête du Travail

En France, le 1er mai est un jour férié. C'est la fête du travail. Evidemment on ne travail pas ce jour là, mais on est payé tout de même, c'est là tout l'intérêt! Le 1er mai est un jour chômé et payé pour tous les salariés sans conditions depuis 1947, mais il n'est alors pas appelé officiellement « fête du travail ». Ce n'est qu'un an plus tard, le 29 avril 1948, qu'est officialisée cette dénomination.

Traditionnellement ce jour est consacré aux défilés des syndicats dans les grandes villes.

En France, dés 1793, une fête du travail est fixée au 1er pluviôse (le calendrier ayant été changé sous la Révolution, « pluviôse » correspondait à peu près au mois de janvier). Mais cette journée ne sera pas conservée par la suite. Il faudra attendre près d'un siècle et l'apparition des mouvements sociaux pour que l'idée d'une fête des travailleurs revienne.

En 1889, le Congrès international socialiste de Paris adopte le premier mai comme jour de revendication des travailleurs. Sur proposition de Raymond Lavigne, le Congrès décide d'organiser une manifestation internationale à date fixe pour que le même jour les ouvriers demandent la journée de 8 h. Le premier mai est choisi, la Fédération Americaine du Travail l'ayant déjà adopté. Le 1er mai devient donc par habitude une journée de revendications sociales, mais parfois les manifestations tournent au drame, comme à Fourmies, dans le nord, en 1891, où la police finie par tirer sous les ouvriers, faisant 9 morts.

Finalement, en 1920, la Russie fait du 1er mai un jour chômé, et devient la fête légale des travailleurs. Beaucoup de pays suivront son exemple, dont la France mais seulement 27 ans plus tard.

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May Day/Labor Day

In France, May first is a public holiday. It's called Labor Day. Of course, people don't work that day, but they still get paid—that's the whole point! May first has been a paid holiday for all salaried employees without exceptions since 1947, but it wasn't officially called "Labor Day" then. It's was only a year later, on April 29, 1948, that this designation was made official. Traditionally, this day is devoted to unions' demonstrations in big cities.

In France, as early as 1793, a Labor Day was fixed on "pluviôse" first (the calendar had been changed during the Revolution so "pluviôse" corresponded approximately to January). But this day wasn't kept later on. It was only about a century later, with the appearance of social movements, that the idea of a workers' day came back.

In 1889, the International Socialist Congress in Paris adopted May first as day for the workers' claims. Upon a proposition from Raymond Lavigne, the Congress decided to organize an international demonstration on a fixed date so that workers could ask for an eight-hour day on the same day. May first was chosen as it had already been adopted by the American Federation of Labor. May first therefore became a day of social claims by force of habit, but sometimes demonstrations took a tragic turn, like in Fourmies in the North of France in 1891, when the police ended up shooting at the workers, killing nine of them.

Finally, in 1920, Russia made May first a public holiday, thus becoming the legal worker's day. Many countries, including France, followed its example, but only twenty-seven years later.

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learn how to say “I love you” in three different ways

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Learn about French culture with FrenchPod101.com! Every country has its superstitions, and France is no exception. Whether you believe in them or not, learning about superstitions is a great way to find out more about French culture...and learn more French along the way!

In this video lesson, you will learn about superstitions related to Friday the 13th, and four-leaf clovers. Visit us at FrenchPod101.com, where you will find many more fantastic lessons and learning resources. Be sure to leave us a message while you are there!