While May 1, International Workers’ Day, was originally commemorated to defend the rights of the working class in the aftermath of the Haymarket massacre in Chicago (1886), it seems that in Armenia the day has been co-opted by big business in conjunction with the state.

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan, accompanied by First Lady Rita Sargsyan, participated in an event organized by Grand Candy CEO Seryozha Hovakimyan ostensibly to “honor the Armenian worker”.

An official press release says that Sargsyan awarded the corporate head with a medal for his long years of effective and caring work.

Activists of the Second International, who chose May 1 to commemorate International Workers’ Day, are surely spinning in their graves.