Unjust labour conditions and child labour are prevalent even today. Many have sacrificed their lives to make our generation’s life easier, to create fair working conditions at the workplace, and eventually to make labour laws for every country. This is a short transcript of how May 1st came into being.
In the late 1800s, American workers had to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, under difficult work conditions. To fight for an 8-hour work day, the workers union held a peaceful protest on May 1st, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois, United States. An unknown person threw a bomb, causing the deaths of seven policemen and four civilians. This kicked off several other protests against unjust working situations across the world. In 1894, President Cleveland signed the law making Labour Day a holiday.
May Day was first celebrated on May 1, 1890, in Europe. Thereafter, the Soviet Union started after the Russian Revolution, 1917. India started in 1923 in Chennai with the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan.
Constitutionally, Article 23 of the constitution prohibits forced labor and Article 24 prohibits employment of children below the age of 14.
