International Workers’ Day, also known as International Labour Day, is celebrated across the globe on May 1. The day is set aside in honour of workers and labourers across industries and sectors. The objective of the day is not only to celebrate the contribution of workers but also to empower them to understand their rights.
In several countries, Labour Day is also a national holiday with many organisations backing special campaigns for the betterment of their employees.
Origin
The origin of Labour Day can be traced back to the United States of America in the 19th Century. May 1 in particular was chosen as the date to mark Labour Day to commemorate the nationwide strike for an eight-hour day in 1886 that began on May 1 and ended as the Haymarket affair in Chicago US. The Haymarket affair refers to the tragic incident where a labour protest rally turned violent after someone threw a bomb at the police leading to the death of seven police officers and at least four civilians.
Facts
1) Despite International Labour Day tracing its origin to the commemoration of the Haymarket affair in Chicago, Labour Day in Canada and the USA is celebrated on the first Monday in September and not May 1.
2) May Day is celebrated in more than 80 countries.
3) In India, the first May Day was celebrated in Chennai (then Madras) in 1923 by The Labour Kisan Party Of Hindustan.
4) Both Maharashtra Day and Gujarat Day are also celebrated on May 1.
5) Canada celebrated Labour Day in 1872, 10 years before the United States.
FG advocates promotion of safe, healthy culture at work place
Essay and speech ideas
— What is the importance of International Labour Day in the present day?
— How is the day celebrated in countries across the world?
— What are some of the areas in which the working class needs continued empowerment?
— Explain the problems plaguing the working class around the world.
— In a post-pandemic world, what changes need to be brought to the labour laws of your country.
Here’s why labour day is celebrated on May 1
May Day honours and celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of labourers and workers. This day is dedicated to the working class and encourages them to be conscious of their rights. It is also known as Labour Day or the International Workers’ Day.
May day is observed every year on May 1. It’s observed not only in India but also in nations such as Cuba and China. The major goal is to acknowledge the immense hard work put in by the working class, to educate them about their rights, and to protect them from being exploited.
Workers must be aware of the opportunities available to them for their welfare and progress.
History and significance
May Day traces its origin to the labour union movement in the United States in the 19th century. The Marxist International Socialist Congress adopted a resolution in 1889 stating that employees should not be forced to work for more than eight hours a day. Following that, it became an annual event.
It was declared for the workers in Paris and France to dedicate May 1, every year, as the ‘Workers Day of International Unity and Solidarity’.
In 1884, the American Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions called for an eight-hour workday. This led to a general strike and the Haymarket (Chicago) Riot, which finally led to the implementation of the eight-hour workday regulation in many countries throughout the world.
How is May Day celebrated?
This day is observed as a national holiday in many nations. Various events are held to remind people of labour rights. To raise awareness of labour rights, messages are also conveyed through various channels.
Today is International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day for short. Daily Trust joins millions of Nigerian workers and others around the world in celebration of that which makes the world go round: work. Although Labour Day is marked on different days in some countries—the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia and Iran—among them, due in part to the varying histories of the labour movement in each country, it is yet a day for celebrating the same things: the dignity of labour, the historical struggles of the labour movement, and the recognition of work and workers in nation building throughout the world.
Workers day in Nigeria
For Nigeria in particular, the labour movement has come a long way from the days of Pa Michael Imoudu, whose struggles and leadership, first as President of the Railway Workers Union (RWU) and later of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria/the Nigerian Trade Union Congress helped laid the foundations not only of our industrial relations to date, but also highlight the roles and contributions of the labour movement to the evolution and development of Nigeria as one nation. That the labour movement in Nigeria was a pillar of the struggles against colonialism and military dictatorship will be forever etched in posterity.
But for this year’s Workers’ Day, we must go beyond the usual parades and fancy speeches by both labour leaders and government officials alike to reflect on the meaning and consequences of the social organization of work and its reward system in Nigerian society today. First, there is a direct connection between work and workers’ welfare on the one hand, and Nigeria’s designation as the poverty capital of the world on the other, with more than 80 million citizens languishing below the national poverty level of just about N382 per day. For many millions of these Nigerians, their poverty is not always on account of unemployment, which is a huge problem for Nigeria, but because of low pay.
Nigerian workers earn simply far too low to work themselves out of poverty. For example, Nigeria’s average minimum wage of $98 is less than half of South Africa’s $242, according to 2019 figures compiled by the online database, Statista. Indeed, at N30,000 per month, Nigeria has one of the lowest minimum wages on the continent, even though it is Africa’s largest economy. In such a social and economic setting, the product of work becomes punishment, not reward, and therefore, human dignity, which gainful work helps to uphold in society, is lost. Beyond national parades by unions, a Labour Day such as today requires all to think about these issues too.
And then, there is the casual but gross injustice of unequal pay for the same kind and amount of work for the same employer, particularly the government itself. Nigeians who work for the federal government in one agency receive up to five times more income than other Nigerians who do the same jobs at other federal agencies, even though, as is often the case, both categories of Nigerians must live in the same cities and shop at the same markets. A society steeped in such casual injustice will remain a hotbed of political, economic and social instability. And a Labour Day provides us with the opportunity to reflect on these too.
Our work-reward system is simply skewed in the interest of a favoured few, not those with the best talents or work rate. The deeply entrenched and high levels of corruption in Nigeria, particularly in government, then and now, ensures that some Nigerians receive rewards they could not have worked for even in a million years, and they do so in broad daylight, often with the full awareness and applause of their own communities, religious groups and other social networks they belong. Experts agree that a society in which work is socially organized in this way will fall prey to the kinds of everyday criminality we now witness everywhere in Nigeria today: rampant kidnapping, banditry, corruption and general insecurity of life and property.
But if the Nigerian governments at all levels have not done enough to rescue the country from all of these plagues, it is because workers, too, have not done enough. Nearly all corruption in government and in the public sector is carried with the collaboration of some worker somewhere, particularly the top-level officials who have been entrusted with power to work in the service of the public. And forms of corruption such as employment racketeering and payroll padding are specifically carried out by workers, for the government or other employers.
Moreover, many workers routinely fail at their own work. If they don’t arrive work late, they will close early, if they bother to report to work at all. Truancy is the other day at many workplaces. The values and ethics of work such as commitment to one’s work and one’s organization have all but collapsed. And no doubt, Nigerian society, economy and government all suffer for it. We are indeed what we work.
Source (Daily Trust)
Happy Labour Day Nigeria.
