Don’t Forget The Purpose Of Labour Day
Their naked feet burning in the scorching sun, sweat of hard work, dropping from their faces. Their tired bodies, still working, to feed their empty stomach crying for food. Carrying heavy bricks on their weak backs, dusty cement on their heads. Working day and night to fulfil their family’s needs. Making others roofs but missing one above themselves. This is called a labour.
Today is “Labour Day” or the “International Workers Day.” This day is celebrated to encourage the hardwork and the achievements of workers who work day and night to provide for their families and make our lives easier in return. The history of Labour Day, goes back to the late 1800’s when labour had to work for more than 12 hours a day and seven days a week. To reduce their working hours, the labour protested, took out rallies and organized strikes. They demanded a decrease in their working hours from 12-hours, to 8-hours a day. During those protests, many of these became violent and things got out of hand, like in the Haymarket Riot, which killed many policemen and workers from Chicago. In response to that violence, 10,000 workers marched from City Hall to Union Square, New York, on 5th September, 1882. This was considered as the first Labour Day parade in the US. Later, this became the base of Labour Day across the world.
Labour Day is celebrated to honour the sacrifices the labour of Chicago. Today’s day is a reminder for the labour around the world that we care for them and we respect them for what they do. Different countries celebrate this day in their own way. 1st May is a public holiday in 80 countries around the world including Pakistan. But the sad part is, the poor labour celebrated this day is still at work because they need to fulfil their family’s needs working on daily wages.
Why do we even celebrate this day when the children living in different areas of Pakistan are still being affected by child labour? When more than 12.5 million children are working at stores, petrol stations, garages and factories as labour instead of sitting in an educational institute, learning. What is the purpose of this day when the poor are still shouting on the streets for the fulfilment of their rights and no one is listening to them? When these people have no roofs above them to protect themselves, what is the purpose of celebrating Labour Day?
There is a great piece of poetry in Urdu that I would like to quote here, “Is shehr main mazdoor jaisa dar badr koi nahi. Jis nay banai sab kay ghar, iska apna koi ghar nahi.” This means that there is no one more unfortunate than the labour. The one who made our houses (labour/worker), does not have a roof of his own.
Today, as we rest in our homes, millions of poor workers and millions of children continue working in this scorching heat or the freezing cold.
I still want to know why we celebrate this day.
Grade VII, Future World Schools, Bahria Town Karachi