International Labour Day or International Workers’ Day is observed each year on the first day of May to celebrate achievements of the working class. The day, also called as ‘May Day’, is also observed as a public holiday in many countries. Labour Day is a public holiday in India as well, where it is celebrated as Antarrashtriya Shramik Diwas (International Labour Day). The day is known as “Kamgar Din” in Hindi, “Karmikara Dinacharane” in Kannada,”Karmika Dinotsavam” in Telugu, “Kamgar Divas” in Marathi, “Uzhaipalar Dhinam” in Tamil, “Thozhilaali Dinam” in Malayalam and “Shromik Dibosh” in Bengali. In North India, however, Labour Day has lost significance as a holiday. Examined by India Today.
6 LABOR DAY QUOTES CELEBRATING EVERYDAY WORK
- Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.
- Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams.
- Nothing ever comes to one that is worth having except as a result of hard work.
- Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
- No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
- A hundred times every day, I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.
Historyof International Labour Day:
The first May Day celebrations focused on workers took place on May 1st 1890 after its proclamation by the first international congress of socialist parties in Europe on July 14th 1889 in Paris, France, to dedicate May 1 every year as the “Workers Day of International Unity and Solidarity.”
The date was chosen due to events on the other side of the Atlantic. In 1884 the American Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions demanded an eight-hour workday, to come in effect as of May 1st 1886. This resulted in the general strike and the Haymarket (in Chicago) Riot of 1886, but eventually also in the official sanction of the eight-hour workday.
- The date was chosen for International Workers’ Day by the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886.
- In Chicago, on May 4, 1886, a bomb blast killed seven police officers and four civilians
- The dynamite blast was a reply to the killings of peaceful demonstrators by police the day before
- After the bombing, eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to death
- The case shaped international headlines because the indication suggested that none of those eight men had thrown the bomb
- Three years later, a French socialist party created an international day to honour the labour movement and marked May 1 in commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre
Importance or Significance of International Labour Day:
- The day has its origins in the labour union movement, particularly the eight-hour day movement, which supports eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest
- May Day has long been a crucial point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups
- May Day has been an important official holiday in countries such as the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union. May Day celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries
- During the Cold War, May Day became intermittent for large military parades in Red Square by the Soviet Union and was attended by the top leaders of the Kremlin, especially the Politburo, atop Lenin’s Tomb. It became an enduring symbol of that period.
