International Labour Day: Many past achievements but miles to go

A day celebrated across the world on May 1 to commemorate an industrial movement more than a century ago, International Labour Day remains an important occasion for workers to this day. 

While several worker movements over the past century have led to some radical changes in labour standards, this remains a work in progress and improvements are still being made to the overall global conditions. 

In India, for example, the Child Labour Act of 1986 prohibited employing people below 16 years. This was meant, among other things, to achieve better labour standards and ensure there was no exploitation of children by industries. Also, the government is now considering a ‘Zero Harm’ policy for mining workers that will do away with all manual loading in underground coal mines within a year. 
 

Also read: Labour Day Special: Coal Ministry plans 'zero harm' policy for mine workers

However, there also have been some moves to maintain proper checks and balances. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, for instance, will meet industry and workers’ bodies on May 6 to discuss proposals to make forming unions tougher and union activities more rule-bound.

Also read: A bleak Labour Day for unions as govt makes it harder to form one

At the peak of the US industrial revolution during the late 1800s, workers had to put in 12 work hours a day for all seven days of the week, to eke out a basic living. Compared to the paltry wages they received for this, their working conditions were rather bad. 

The anger these caused among workers globally led to a movement for better conditions, higher wages and a cap on daily work hours. The basic demand was: Eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for the rest. Labour unions organised strikes and rallies, many of those violent ones, including the infamous Haymarket Riot of May 4, 1886, in which several Chicago policemen and workers were killed. 

While most countries across the world celebrate May 1 as Labour Day to remember this uprising of the worker community, some do it on different dates. New Zeeland and some Australian states, for example, observe this day on the first Monday of October. The US and Canada celebrate do so on the first Monday of September.