International Labour's Day
International Labour's Day also known as International worker's Day is celebrated in the world on 1st May in the commemoration of the labourers and working class and was achieved due to the sacrifices and struggles of The Labour Movement
History of International Labour's Day.
why is International Labour's Day celebrated?
Worker's Day and The Labour Movement
It was nineteenth century when Chicago was newly developed as an industrial city. Thousands of workers came here and belonged to different countries like France, Japan, England, etc. These workers worked arduously and strainingly for 16 hours a day and their daily wages were merely 150-200 rupees.
The industrialists and the factory owners kept on insisting that the labourers should not recognise their rights. They also ensured that the labourers do not start a movement for their rights. Consequently, they had kept spies among them and used hooligans and the police to threaten the labourers. They kept them indulged in linguistics and nationality.
If any worker raised his voice for his rights, he was black listed, fired and boycotted form every aspect. The media at that time was bribed by the industrialists.To demand their rights, the labourers made a campaign overnight named "Knights of Labour".
Its motivé was that the labourers will work eight hours a day,rest for eight hours and spend the rest eight hours for their recreation. In 1884 when this movement started struggling to demand their rights, its total members were 70000 and in 1886,just after two years, its members had increased to 7 lacs
A newspaper of that time, "Worker's Times" had great influence on the movement of the labourers. It was published in German language and was an anarchist newspaper. Likewise, different trade unions gathered together and made another movement known as "Federation of Organised Trade and Labour Unions".
They decided that they will conduct a procession and make strikes on 1st May, 1986 to demand their rights like eight working hours for a day. Consequently, on 1st May, 1986, 5 lac labourers protested and conducted processions and rallies throughout America. In Chicago, about eighty thousands protested.
In a factory"MicCormick Harvesting Machine Company ", the labourers had also been protesting for too long for their rights . The factory owners had expelled them for 3 months but the labourers kept on protesting at the gate of the factory.
The factory owners used guards of special agencies that compelled the workers to either stop the protests or start working in the factory. In those days, a leader of the movement, made a speech calling all the labourers and workers to muster up. Consequently, the protestors at the gate of the factory tried to join the labourers who were coming out of the factory after their working shift.
As they moved forward towards them, the police fired on the labourers resulting in the death of six of them. The leader of the movement, said that it was merely done to restrain the labourers from demanding their rights.
Hay Market Riots
Consequently, in an overnight, the labourers printed 25000 pamphlets calling all the labourers to gather together in the "Hay Market".
The next day on 3rd May, 1986, three thousands reached over there in spite of the heavy rain and started listening to the speeches of their leaders.
All was going as far as good when at 10 pm at night, police force in huge number approached and tried to evacuate that place of the labourers and threatened to use coercive measures in case of resistance.
In the meanwhile, a labourer threw a bomb at the police that exacerbated the condition . The police started firing on the labourers and as a result, many of the labourers were injured and many died, while the rest of them started retreating . The police force, despite of their retrieval, didn't stop the shelling.
Consequently, a majority of the labourers were shot to death. Seven police men died in this process.
At that time, the labourers had white flag as their symbol . When the labourers fell on the ground after being shot dead by the police, their clothes and their flags were stained red due to their blood. Next day, the labourers hung that red, blood stained clothes and flags outside their houses.
The entire colonies of the labourers looked red due to their blood stained flags. The media, instead of supporting the labourers,strongly opposed them and said that it was the terrible consequence of anarchy. 8 leaders of the movement were arrested and prosecuted in charge of killing the cops.
The trial commenced on 21st June, 1986 and came to an end on 11th August, 1886 where media and the courts both turned against the labourers. Only those judges were made a part of the benches who were in favour of the industrialists. As a result, 7 leaders were sentenced to death while 1 was sentenced to life imprisonment. As a matter of fact, 6 leaders were not even present over there when the incident took place. Six leaders were dressed in white clothes and hanged till death.
One leader was in jail and to escape this punishment, he committed suicide. There were protests throughout the world due to the assassination of the pathetic labourers. People raised red flags to support the miserable and pathetic labourers and this red flag became their symbol. Many intellectuals opposed and wrote against this. Their leaders were engraved in the "Hay Market".
It was seen that people throughout the world started supporting the labourers and their leaders who were hanged. They also made protests for the acceptance of their rights. Consequently, it was decided that the labourers would work eight hours a day, but if they are to work more than eight hours, then they should be paid for the extra hours.
Aims of The Labour Movement
Labour Movement fought for the following :
- Better Wages
- Reasonable working hours
- Safer working conditions
- Efforts to stop child labour
- Provide aid to the injured
- Provide aid to the retired
- Improvement of social status
- Improvement of economic status
Leader of the Labour Movement
Samuel Gompels(1850-1924) was the leader of the Chicago Labour Movement .He founded the American federation of Labour and was its first president as well.
Leader of the Knights of Labour
Uriah Smith Stephens was the leader of the Knights of Labour
Is there any holiday observed on Labour's Day?
Yes a holiday is observed on Labour's Day throughout the world. All the public and private sectors observe holiday on 1st May.
Which countries celebrate International Labour's Day?
Almost all the countries celebrate Labour's Day on 1st May except America and Israel. America celebrates it on 2nd September.
20 Quotes for Labour's Day
- “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle
- “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” – Thomas Edison
- “Without labor nothing prospers.” – Sophocles
- “Nothing ever comes to one that is worth having except as a result of hard work.” – Booker T. Washington
- “Dare to be honest and fear no labour.” – Robert Burns
- “Find something you love to do, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” – Harvey Mackay
- “The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.” – Mother Teresa
- “No human masterpiece has been created without great labour.” – Andre Gide
- “Take rest. A field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” – Ovid
- “Nothing will work unless you do” – Maya Angelou
- Without labor nothing prospers. ~ Sophocles
- The end of labor is to gain leisure. ~ Aristotle
- God sells us all things at the price of labor. ~ Leonardo da Vinci
- Work isn’t to make money; you work to justify life. ~ Marc Chagall
- A bad day at work is better than a good day in hell. ~ Scott Johnson
- Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. ~ Ovid
- It is labour indeed that puts the difference on everything. ~ John Locke
- Heaven is blessed with perfect rest but the blessing of earth is toil. ~ Henry van Dyke
- God give me work, till my life shall end. And life, till my work is done. ~ Epitaph of Winifred Holtby
- Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another. ~ Anatole France
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