International Worker’s Day is about celebrating employees’ rights and commemorating the critical role of trade unions in defending their interests.
In South Africa, Workers Day was officially observed since the dawn of democracy in 1994. Its importance dates back to the struggles workers faced pre-democracy. They fought against draconian labour laws and bad working conditions.
On Sunday, some workers in France used May Day rallies to vent their anger over President Emmanuel Macron’s re-election.
A French assistant nurse, Isabelle Touria Bourmhi says, “I will continue the fight and take to the streets until I stop working. It’s the only way. Because the struggle is the only path we have left to obtain something.”
The world marks International Workers’ Day
In Greece, workers staged a massive demonstration to express their anger triggered by high food prices and energy costs.
“Everything has risen, the electricity has risen, gas has risen, necessities have risen, its chaos, we can’t get paid fast enough to give it somewhere else. We are trying with every means to cut out what is not necessary to pay these things.”
This year’s commemoration happens after the International Labour Organisation released a report warning economic and social progress made in the least developed countries, has been slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and continuing energy and food crises.
ILO says as much as some countries in the developing world have implemented a wide range of support packages, this has been hindered by structural weaknesses due to multiple shocks.
Director General at the International Labour Organisation, Guy Ryder says, “We’ve thought about the global policy forum that we convened a few weeks ago to look how we have a recovery centred on the human being from the covid-19 crisis and now are seeing other crises arise around that.”
Mega rallies have been held in Turkey, Thailand, France, South Korea and other countries. Meanwhile, the International Labour Organisation says each year almost 3 million workers die due to occupational accidents and disease while hundreds of millions more suffer non-fatal injuries at work. The world body says this must be addressed.
