New Zealand made Labour Day a statutory public holiday in 1899.
The holiday grew from the campaign for an eight-hour working day, a movement strongly associated with carpenter Samuel Parnell in Wellington in 1840. Parnell negotiated an eight-hour day for himself, helping establish an important labor tradition in New Zealand.
New Zealand first observed Labour Day as a public holiday on Wednesday, 28 October 1899. It was initially held on the second Wednesday in October. The observance later moved to the fourth Wednesday and then, from 1910, to the fourth Monday in October.
New Zealand Labour Day is not the same date as the May 1 workers’ holiday observed in many countries. The New Zealand holiday’s October timing reflects its own labor-history traditions and calendar changes.