Labour Day being observed to pay tribute to the rights of workers

Millions of people celebrate May 1 as International Workers’ Day or Labour Day devoted to the rights of workers and the working class.

Labour Day is often marked as a public holiday in countries such as India, Pakistan, Australia and large parts of Africa.

Labour Day was first created in the late 19th century when the trade union and labour movements were growing in the USA.

It has its origins in the labour union movement, and specifically in the eight-hour day movement, which called for workers to have eight hours for work eight hours for recreation and eight hours for rest every day. At the time, most workers were doing 10-hour days.

On this day every year the working classes and labourers are honoured by the international labour movement. A large number of countries around the world will celebrate a workers’ day, with many workers having a day off.

It is a day for remembering those who died or have been injured at work and in recent years it has become a focal day for large-scale protests organised by socialist and anti-capitalist movements.

May 1 was chosen to be International Workers’ Day to commemorate the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago, where a general strike was held in support of the eight-hour day.

The police on May 4 were trying to disperse supporters of the strike when someone threw a bomb. Police responded by firing on the workers, and the blast and subsequent violence led to the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians.

The following day on May 5 in Wisconsin, the state militia fired on a crowd of strikers killing seven. Hundreds of labour leaders and sympathisers were later rounded-up and four were executed by hanging in 1887, after a trial that was seen as a miscarriage of justice.

In 1889 the original Socialist International was formed in Paris. It was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, with delegates from 20 countries participating.

It declared May 1, May Day, as International Workers’ Day.

In Pakistan Labour Day also known as May Day was declared a national holiday in 1972 when the first labour policy was devised.

Pakistan has been member of the International Labour Day since independence in 1947. Pakistan has ratified 36 ILO conventions of which eight are core conventions.

The day is marked by rallies and processions, labour union sessions and seminars, and organised street demonstrations where union leaders and civil society activists deliver speeches about the history and significance of the day and labour rights and express solidarity with workers from around the world.