Hyderabad: International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, is celebrated to commemorate the contribution of the working class and fight injustice against those working in severe and unsafe environments. The theme of this year's International Workers' Day is "United Workers for Social and Economic Advancement." It is also an official public holiday in many countries like India, China, North Korea, Cuba and Russia.
This historic day's origin dates back to the 19th century when the upper class exploited the working class denying them of basic work rights.
As a result of the oppression, a labour movement gained momentum in America and hundreds gathered on this day to demand a shorter work day, without any deduction in pay.
On this day on May 1' 1886:
- The labour class united to raise their voices against the unjust treatment that included 15 hours of work a day, poor working conditions leading to deaths and unfair wages
- This was also a reason why the Labour day was propagated by various pressure groups
- More than 3,00,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States walked off their jobs in the first May Day celebration in history
- In Chicago, the epicentre of the 8-hour day agitators, 40,000 went out on strike with the anarchists.
'MAY DAY' in India
However, in India, this day was first celebrated in Madras (now Chennai) on May 1' 1923 by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan.
Additionally, this day also marks the formation of Maharashtra and Gujarat after Bombay was divided for linguistic differences.
Although this day holds significance for various reasons in different countries of the world, it mostly observed as a day when workers from the labour class demonstrated to fight their rights.
Further, the International Labour Day is also referred to as Antarrashtriya Shramik Diwas or Kamgar Din in different regional languages in India.
Here are the major problems faced by workers in India today:
- Agrarian crisis
- Unfair recruitment
- Improper development of labour organisations
- Lack of proper wages
- Less exposure to IT
- Unsatisfactory workplace
- Gender discrimination
In India, women face major discrimination in terms of wages as compared to men. Also, it can be noted that the female force participation is well below the global average. One of the major reasons here is the cultural and social barriers that are coupled with gender bias, prominent in Indian society. A few other issues are lack of maternity care, child care benefits, sexual harassment and others.
READ: India to have Defence Cyber Agency in May; Rear Admiral Mohit to be its chief
