Episode 2 of 2

Melbourne Celebration and Procession

Name: Melbourne Celebration and Procession
Start: 1856-05-12
Location: Melbourne

When: 12 May 1856
Where: Melbourne
Part of: Melbourne building workers agitate for the eight-hour day

Following government agreement, workers celebrated with a holiday and procession on May 12, 1856, involving 700 people.

The government agreed that workers employed on public works should enjoy an eight-hour day with no loss of pay. Stonemasons celebrated with a holiday and procession on Monday 12 May 1856, when about 700 people marched with 19 trades involved.

Sources

Eight-hour day movement Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-24

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.