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25 April, 2001
May Day is not just a day off from work. It is to celebrate international solidarity among workers. Every one of us should be out on the streets joining manifestations being organised worldwide by trade unions and labour movements. Staying home would be to betray the union and its struggle.
In the last few years, many people have expressed their wishes to me to mark the metalworkers' struggle around the world by devoting one special day to them. Honestly, I do not think it is necessary to change or to add a new day to celebrate our struggle.
Maybe you think I am too traditionalist and a little bit conservative, but on this particular issue I want to stick to our traditions. May Day came about more than 100 years ago when workers in Chicago went on strike and demonstrated for the 8-hour workday and better working conditions. That day was just a normal working day, but police attacked the group and 11 of them died, shot down by bullets. They were unarmed and inoffensive, like all workers struggling to make a living.
After that tragedy, the labour movement declared the First of May, or May Day, as THE day to pay respect and tribute to all workers around the world. In the USA and Great Britain, however, May Day is still not recognised as the special day for Labour. This is regrettable and, hopefully, will at some point be changed.
Just a couple of days before the First of May, on April 28, the trade union movement also observes International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. This year, for the first time, the International Labour Organisation will join in marking this day to commemorate the victims of unhealthy and unsafe workplaces. Every year, 1.3 million workers are killed (3,300 every day) as a result of accidents or disease related to exposure to bad environmental conditions at work. 12,000 are children. 160 million new injuries and work-related diseases are reported annually. Asbestos alone claims about 100,000 victims.
This is not acceptable for the trade unions or for society as a whole. This was also what the workers in Chicago fought against when they demonstrated on that first May Day in our history, and this is what we must continue to fight for today, if we want to guarantee our children a better and safer future.
Join your union demonstration next Tuesday, MAY DAY 2001!
In the last few years, many people have expressed their wishes to me to mark the metalworkers' struggle around the world by devoting one special day to them. Honestly, I do not think it is necessary to change or to add a new day to celebrate our struggle.
Maybe you think I am too traditionalist and a little bit conservative, but on this particular issue I want to stick to our traditions. May Day came about more than 100 years ago when workers in Chicago went on strike and demonstrated for the 8-hour workday and better working conditions. That day was just a normal working day, but police attacked the group and 11 of them died, shot down by bullets. They were unarmed and inoffensive, like all workers struggling to make a living.
After that tragedy, the labour movement declared the First of May, or May Day, as THE day to pay respect and tribute to all workers around the world. In the USA and Great Britain, however, May Day is still not recognised as the special day for Labour. This is regrettable and, hopefully, will at some point be changed.
Just a couple of days before the First of May, on April 28, the trade union movement also observes International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. This year, for the first time, the International Labour Organisation will join in marking this day to commemorate the victims of unhealthy and unsafe workplaces. Every year, 1.3 million workers are killed (3,300 every day) as a result of accidents or disease related to exposure to bad environmental conditions at work. 12,000 are children. 160 million new injuries and work-related diseases are reported annually. Asbestos alone claims about 100,000 victims.
This is not acceptable for the trade unions or for society as a whole. This was also what the workers in Chicago fought against when they demonstrated on that first May Day in our history, and this is what we must continue to fight for today, if we want to guarantee our children a better and safer future.
Join your union demonstration next Tuesday, MAY DAY 2001!