Kolkata, 1st May: A huge number of workers here celebrated the ‘Labor Day’ on Saturday by demonstrating for their rights on the streets of Kolkata.
Various labor organizations and trade unions marked this day, also known as May Day or International Workers’ Day, by raising slogans for labor rights to prevent retrenchment and improve working ties with the employers here.
The participating demonstrators sang Communist songs to express solidarity with Chicago workers.
‘The labor class has to fight for deciding their minimum wages…the labor class has to fight for deciding their hours of work…there is an urgent need to fight over all these issues… and there is a need for the laborers to fight together because the organized labor class is only seven percent in our country and the rest 93 percent is unorganized class. Therefore, it is the duty of the organized labors to help the unorganized ones to fight the system,’ said Alok Banerjee, a Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Leader.
He said demonstrating against the government is the only way to be heard.
May Day or International Workers’ Day is observed in remembrance of the Chicago workers when the Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike, kill several demonstrators.
Also, it is an annual holiday celebrated all over the world that resulted from the labor union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers.
The celebration of Labor Day has its origins in the Eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.