“If the workers took a
notion they could stop all speeding trains; Every ship upon the ocean they can
tie with mighty chains. Every wheel in the creation, every mine and every mill;
Fleets and armies of the nation, will at their command stand still.
“There is power in a band of working men, when they
stand, hand in hand. That’s a power that must rule in every land.”
Joe
Hill
May 1 is marked as International Labour Day, also
referred to as May Day. It celebrates the struggles of the working class and
the efforts of labour unions. Labour Day is an annual public holiday in many
countries. In India, Labour Day is referred as AntarrashtriyaShramikDiwas
or Kamgar Dinand was first celebrated here in the year 1923.
It
is also referred as International Workers' Day or just Workers’ Day.
For most countries, Labour Day is synonymous with,
or linked with International Workers’ Day which occurs on 1st of
May. For other countries, Labour Day is celebrated on a different date, often
one with special significance for the labour movement in that country.
For example, this year China is
celebrating May 5 as International Labour Day as May 5 happens to be the birth
date of Karl Marx, who propounded the economic theory of labour and capital so
closely associated with communism. In Canada and
the United States, this holiday is celebrated on the first Monday of
September and is generally considered as the unofficial end of the sunny days,
with summer holidays ending and students returning to school around then.
Labour
Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the
next day. It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already
taken.
Bill Dodds
During
industrialisation, in beginning of the 19th century, the industrialists used to
exploit the labour class and made them work for up to 15 hours a day. The
workers rose against this exploitation and demanded paid leaves, proper wages
and workday breaks for the workforce.
The
eight-hour day labour movement advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for
recreation, and eight hours for rest. The Labour Day annually celebrates the
achievements of the workers.
While
the day has a different significance in different countries, the main reason
for Labour Day is unfair treatment of the labour class.
What does labour want? We want more schoolhouses and less
jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure
and less greed; morejustice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities
to cultivate our better natures.
Workingmen are at the
foundation of society. Show me that product of human endeavor in the making of
which the workingman has had no share, and I will show you something that
society can well dispense with.
Samuel
Gompers
Labour is prior to, and independent
of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labour, and could
never have existed if labour had not first existed.Labour is the
superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
Abraham
Lincoln
May 1 was chosen to be International Workers' Day to commemorate
the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. In that year, on May 1, there was a
general strike for the eight-hour workday. On May 4, the police acted to
disperse a public assembly in support of the strike when an unidentified person
threw a bomb. The police responded by firing on the workers. The event led to
several deaths.The incident is remembered as the Haymarket Affair, or the
Haymarket Massacre.
International Workers’ Day was officially recognized
in 1889 at the International Socialist Congress in Paris to commemorate the
Haymarket Affair. Following more violent
protests in the US, the Socialist Congress of 1904 made it mandatory to stop
work on May Day, calling on“all Social-Democratic Party organizations and
trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the
legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class of the proletariat, and
for universal peace.”
Workers of the world
awaken. Break your chains, demand your rights. All the wealth you make is
taken, by exploiting parasites. Shall you kneel in deep submission from your
cradle to your grave.Is the height of your ambition to be a good and willing
slave?
Labour Day or
May Day has been a focal point of protests by various socialist and communist
groups and is an important holiday in communist countries like China, North
Korea, Cuba and the former Soviet Union countries.
Here’s wishing that you are finding
happiness and satisfaction in the work that you do. Happy Labour
Day, everyone! (particularly, housewives)
This day is a reminder
to housewives not to despair. Do not
lose hope thinking that this world does not remember you and your endless
slaving (Labour by any other name would still mean the same, right?). Here is a whole, entire day, actually a
holiday, dedicated to you. It’s
celebrated all over the world in honour of workers and their right to the
eight-hour workday. So stand up (no,
actually sit down) for your right to rest, relax and recharge.It’s a reminder
every year that
“There is power in a band of working (wo)men, when
they stand, hand in hand. (when they sit with their feet up). That’s a power
that must rule in every land.”
Let’s paraphrase
(with due apologies to Joe Hill):
If housewives took a
notion they could stop all their speeding husbands; Every office upon the earth
they can tie with mighty chains. Every wheel in the creation, every mine and
every mill; Fleets and armies of the nation, will at their command stand still.
So come on! You only need to believe in yourselves and
take the notion. Any takers?
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