May Day - a workers’ celebration

By Pramod DE SILVA

“Workers of the World Unite!” You might have heard this rallying cry many times and almost invariably on May Day. Workers toil hundreds of days a year and May Day, or Labour Day, as it is known in some countries, is the only day dedicated to them worldwide. It is the day when workers come together to champion their rights and raise their voice for better working conditions. In Sri Lanka, May Day is celebrated widely by political parties and trade unions.

It is called May Day mainly because it falls on May 1, but the story of its origin 125 years ago is much deeper. Following the Industrial Revolution which began in mid-18th Century England, many ruthless employers made their employees work for 14-18 hours daily.

In the late 19th century, working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work in very unsafe conditions. Death and injury were common at many workplaces.

To stop this enslavement of workers, an agitation began globally to reduce work hours. The workers argued that in every 24 hours, they can give a third to their employers, one third for sleep or rest, and the balance eight hours for family, food and transportation to work. They wanted a 40-hour week, with two days off, which is now the accepted norm.

Thus began the agitation for 'Eight Hours for Work - Eight Hours for Rest - Eight Hours for What We Will'. This was the foundation for a campaign that would later become the focus of May Day. Ironically, May Day is no longer a holiday in the very country it originated from (Instead, the US observes a Labour Day in September).

Eight working hours

The seeds of May Day were planted in the United States well over a century ago. Between May 1 - 4, 1886, some gallant workers’ leaders in the United States called for a general strike to back their demands for a legal guarantee for eight working hours per day. In the pursuit of the strike, a violent incident erupted at the famous Haymarket Square in Chicago, where armed policemen fired shots into the workers, resulting in the deaths of many of the workers.

Eight policemen were also killed. Following the May 1 – 4, 1886 disturbances, leaders of the workers, namely, August Spies, George Engel, Adolph Fischer and Albert Richard Parson were arrested, convicted and hanged on November 11, 1887. Others including Oscar W. Reebe and Michael Scwab were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Haymarket Square martyrs were later honoured with a special monument at their graveside in Chicago on June 25, 1893. The following day the Governor of Illinois overruled the Court's judgment in the case and ordered that the surviving workers’ leaders serving life sentence be freed. In February 1889, the American Federation of Labour (AFL) eventually obtained their desired minimum wage and eight-hour working day.

This workers’ revolt against excruciating exploitation spread to many European countries culminating in the convening of the first International Congress of Socialist Parties in Paris, France on July 14, 1889, which gave birth to the 'International Workers' Day'. The Congress decided to dedicate May 1 every year as the 'Workers' Day of International Unity and Solidarity'.

May Day rallies are held in many countries

The first May Day celebration in the US was held under the theme: 'For Peace and Against Threats of War'. Workers in the United States, Chile, Denmark, Britain, Switzerland, Holland, Peru, Hungary, France and Italy marked the first May Day. It soon spread across the globe. Today, it is celebrated in both capitalist and socialist countries.

The first May Day rally in a country other than the US was held on May 4, 1890, at the Hyde Park in London. Eleanor Marx, who was related to Karl Marx, reminded his audience about the growing popularity of May Day: “I can remember when we came in handfuls of a few dozen to Hyde Park to demand an Eight Hours’ Bill, but the dozens have grown to hundreds, and the hundreds to thousands, until we have this magnificent demonstration that fills the park today. I am glad to see that the great masses of the people are on our side.”

Workers’ rights

Apart from the celebration itself (rallies, parades and demonstrations), May Day has become an opportunity to reflect on workers’ rights, the challenges faced by workers, poverty among workers and the perennial problem of unemployment. Workers' rights have been evolved under and are enshrined by the Charter of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which works with governments around the world to advance the cause of workers and uplift their lives.

Sri Lanka has been a close partner of the ILO for decades. The ILO’s 2012 Global Employment Trends (GET) Report, which would be released to coincide with May Day, has some sobering statistics on global employment and unemployment. The ILO will also launch its annual report 'World of Work Report 2012: Better Jobs for a Better Economy' tomorrow, on the eve of May Day.

According to the GET Report, the world faces the “urgent challenge” of creating 600 million productive jobs over the next decade to generate sustainable growth and maintain social cohesion. “There is a backlog of global unemployment of 200 million,” says the ILO. The report says more than 400 million new jobs will be needed over the next decade to absorb the estimated 40 million growth of the labour force each year.

It also says the world faces the additional challenge of creating decent jobs for the estimated 900 million workers living with their families below the two US dollars a day poverty line, mostly in developing countries. “Job creation in the real economy must become our number one priority”, says the ILO.

Young people continue to be among the hardest hit by the jobs crisis. Around 75 million youth aged 15-24 were unemployed in 2011, an increase of more than four million since 2007. It adds that globally, young people are nearly three times as likely as adults to be unemployed.

Political parties, trade unions and workers in Sri Lanka must reflect on these issues and statistics on May Day.

Workers have every right to protest and demand better pay and conditions, but they should also think about their obligations to the employers.

There are some trade unions and employees who strike at the drop of a hat, without even thinking about the effect of such action on the public. They should necessarily exhaust a process of negotiation before launching strike action.

May Day should be a day for fostering industrial peace – a smooth relationship between employers and employees, sans strikes and work-to-rule campaigns. Moreover, all employers, government or private, must respect labour laws and rights to ensure industrial peace. Above all, workers must realise how lucky they are to have a job. Thousands of other people are not so fortunate.

Government support

Workers in Sri Lanka have been celebrating May Day for many decades. All governments have been supportive of the May Day activities. Although some have argued that it should only be an opportunity to focus on labour issues and workers’ rights, it is difficult to separate politics from these in the modern world.

It is very hard to separate the labour movement from politics for they depend on each other. In fact, the workers in many organisations are represented by trade unions which are for the most part affiliated to major political parties.

Moreover, the May Day stage has evolved into a platform where, apart from labour and political issues, critical issues facing the nation are discussed. People from all walks of life and all parts of Sri Lanka come to Colombo for the main rallies and meetings.

Rallies will also be held in many other parts of Sri Lanka, making it a countrywide event. However, there is no doubt that the glorious days of May Days gone by, when the Leftist Movement in Sri Lanka was very strong, would not return.

May Day has been transformed into a political event loosely based on the significance of the day for the working class. It has become an opportunity for the political parties to show their grassroots strength and also their affinity to the working masses. After all, the focus of May Day is still on the working class.

True, one can no longer witness the massive May Day rallies of yesteryear, but the day has still not lost its significance. May Day is an ideal opportunity for political parties, trade unions and workers themselves to reflect on these matters. The working masses have achieved many victories globally through agitations as well as through negotiations. May Day will continue to be a platform where their issues are raised and their voice is heard.

“Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work”.

- Horace