International Labor Day 2024: International Labor Day is celebrated every year on 1 May. It is also called May Day. May Day is a day associated with the fight for workers’ rights. Behind the birth of this fight is the movement to reduce working hours. In today’s time, if your employer takes work for more than 8 hours, then it is generally called overtime and in exchange for this overtime, you are given additional salary. If you are being made to work overtime and nothing is being given in return for this overtime, then your employer may be caught in violation of labor law.
When workers used to work 20 hours
Now let us talk about the time when working hours were not fixed. At that time, workers used to work for sixteen to 18 hours and were not given any extra salary in return. It is possible that such conditions exist in many places even today, but everyone will call this situation inhumane. But, when the factory system started in America, it was normal for workers to work for 16 to 18 hours. The first protest against this practice was made by the cobblers of Philadelphia, America in 1806. The cobblers went on strike. The American government sued these cobblers. During the hearing of this case, it came to light for the first time that these laborers were being made to work for 19 or 20 hours.
In 1827, the Mechanics Union of Philadelphia, considered the world’s first trade union, went on strike to reduce working hours to 10 hours. After this, different trade unions agitated to reduce working hours and demand good wages.
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This is how the slogan of ‘8 hours work’ was born
First of all, the workers of Australia’s infrastructure industry gave the slogan ‘8 hours of work, 8 hours of entertainment and 8 hours of rest’. His demand was accepted in 1856 itself. But this demand for 8 hours work was heard for the first time in America in 1866. ‘National Labor Union’ was formed in America in 1866. In its founding conference, this organization demanded that the working hours be increased to 8 hours in all the states of America.
After this, this movement gained momentum and in 1868, the American Congress also passed a law in this regard. But, this law could not become a reality on the ground. The demand for increasing the working hours to 8 hours continued by various labor organizations. In 1877, there was a huge strike in America regarding this demand. Later, the trade union called ‘The American Federation of Labor’ along with the trade union called ‘Knights of Labor’ decided to give final effect to this demand. On October 7, 1884, the American Federation of Labor announced that it would go on strike from May 1, 1886, demanding ‘reduction of working hours to 8 hours’. The federation appealed to all labor organizations to join the strike. This appeal had a wide impact.
‘May Day’ was born from the Hay Market incident
On May 1, 1886, there was a massive strike across America. The main center of this strike was Chicago. Many labor organizations took part together in the Chicago strike. The factory owners of Chicago were shaken by this movement. On May 3, the police brutally repressed a workers’ meeting in Chicago, in which six workers were killed and many were injured. On May 4, workers gathered at Hay Market Square in Chicago to condemn this incident.
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At the end of this meeting, a bomb was thrown into the crowd of workers. Four laborers and seven policemen were killed in this. After this, four labor leaders were sentenced to death. This incident in Hay Market attracted the attention of the whole world. On July 14, 1889, socialist and communist leaders from around the world gathered in Paris to form the ‘Second Communist International’.
May Day celebrated for the first time in 1890
Leaders of other countries were also influenced by America’s labor movement and they decided to celebrate May Day on May 1, 1890 to raise the demands of workers all over the world. The most prominent demand in this was to increase the working hours to eight hours. In 1890, ‘May Day’ was celebrated on 1 May in America as well as in many countries of Europe. From then till today, May 1 is being celebrated as International Labor Day. The United Nations also celebrates May 1 every year as ‘International Labor Day’. For the first time in India, May Day was celebrated by the Labor Kisan Party in Madras (now Chennai) on May 1, 1923. That was the first time the red flag was used in any function in India.
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Tags: America, Labor Law, labor reforms
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 1, 2024, 15:05 IST