History and origin of May Day [International Labour Day]

Bahlakoana Lebakae

Many people sacrificed their lives during the Haymarket Massacre on May 4, 1886, in Chicago during a workers’ strike. A bomb was thrown by an unidentified person. Police then fired into the crowd. When the violence ended, seven police officers and at least four workers were dead, with scores more wounded. Most historians agree that many of the police casualties resulted from friendly fire in the chaos. International Workers’ Day is now celebrated worldwide to commemorate May Day.

International Labour Day (May Day) aims to continue the struggle for and promote the requirement of an eight-hour workday. Earlier, working conditions for labourers were very severe, with shifts lasting 10 to 16 hours a day, often in unsafe environments. Deaths, injuries, and other dreadful conditions were common at workplaces during the 1860s. Working people remained highly agitated until the eight-hour workday was eventually declared.

In the United States, the May Day Riots of 1894 broke out in Cleveland, Ohio, as thousands of unemployed workers protested during the severe depression caused by the Panic of 1893. Then, in 1904, the International Socialist Conference in Amsterdam issued the following statement: “All Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries [shall] demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.” It declared that “it is mandatory upon the proletarian organisations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers.”

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR DAY THEME

International Labour Day themes are planned by members of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Some themes are mentioned below.

The ILO focuses on ensuring a healthy psychosocial working environment for all workers.

This theme highlights the importance of managing: workload, time, roles and organisational culture, and prevention of burnout, violence, and harassment.

Origins and History of the ILO

The ILO was created in 1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, reflecting the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice.

The ILO Constitution was drafted between January and April 1919 by the Labour Commission set up by the Peace Conference, which first met in Paris and then in Versailles. The Constitution incorporated ideas tested within the International Association for Labour Legislation, founded in Basel in 1901. Advocacy for an international organisation dealing with labour issues began in the nineteenth century, led by two industrialists: Robert Owen (1771–1853) of Wales and Daniel Legrand (1783–1859) of France.

The driving forces for the ILO’s creation arose from security, humanitarian, political, and economic considerations. Summarising them, the ILO Constitution’s Preamble states that the High Contracting Parties were “moved by sentiments of justice and humanity as well as by the desire to secure the permanent peace of the world…”

Against a background of exploitation of workers in industrialising nations, there was keen appreciation of the importance of social justice in securing peace. There was also increasing understanding of the world’s economic interdependence and the need for cooperation to achieve similarity in working conditions among countries competing for markets.

Reflecting these ideas, the Preamble declares:

• Whereas universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice;
• And whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice, hardship, and privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperilled; and an improvement of those conditions is urgently required;
• Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in their own countries.

The areas of improvement listed in the Preamble remain relevant today, for example:

• Regulation of hours of work, including the establishment of a maximum working day and week
• Regulation of labour supply, prevention of unemployment, and provision of an adequate living wage
• Protection of the worker against sickness, disease, and injury arising out of employment
• Protection of children, young persons, and women
• Provision for old age and injury, protection of the interests of workers employed in countries other than their own
• Recognition of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value
• Recognition of the principle of freedom of association
• Organisation of vocational and technical education, and other measures

Early Days

The ILO made signal contributions to the world of work from its early days. The first International Labour Conference, held in Washington in October 1919, adopted six International Labour Conventions, which dealt with hours of work in industry, unemployment, maternity protection, night work for women, minimum age, and night work for young persons in industry.

The ILO was located in Geneva in the summer of 1920, with France’s Albert Thomas as the first Director of the International Labour Office (the Organisation’s permanent secretariat). Under his strong impetus, 16 International Labour Conventions and 18 Recommendations were adopted in less than two years.

A Committee of Experts was set up in 1926 as a supervisory system on the application of ILO standards. The Committee, which exists today, is composed of independent jurists responsible for examining government reports and presenting their own report each year to the Conference.

Depression and War

The Great Depression, with its resulting mass unemployment, was the order of the day. In 1932, it was realised that handling labour issues also requires international cooperation. The United States became a member of the ILO in 1934, although it continued to stay out of the League of Nations.

In 1946, the ILO became a specialised agency of the newly formed United Nations. In 1948, still during the period of Phelan’s leadership, the International Labour Conference adopted Convention No. 87 on freedom of association and the right to organise.

The Post-War Years

America’s David Morse was Director-General from 1948 to 1970, during which time the number of member states doubled. The ILO established the Geneva-based International Institute for Labour Studies in 1960 and the International Training Centre in Turin in 1965. The Organisation won the Nobel Peace Prize on its 50th anniversary in 1969.

The 11th ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, was elected for the period of 1 October 2022 to October 2027. He is a former Prime Minister of Togo (2008–2012), born 1961, and former President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

WHY TRADE UNIONS MATTER: FROM SLAVERY TO STRUGGLE

Without trade unions, it would be pure slavery. Wages have never increased by 100 percent.

History informs us of the current class struggles, which are over 500 years old. If we miss out on history, we will miss out on the bigger picture. Capitalism changes colours but does not change the maximisation of profit: the exploiter against the exploited people of Africa.

1450–1850: Slavery of Africans – In mercantile capitalism, labour was bought cheaply or almost free of charge. For example, a geologist found Africans playing their 3,000-year-old games with precious stones, then acquired the land where the minerals came from and forbade any trading of such metals. To date, we as Africans do not know the value of our minerals, how much is being extracted, or how much is left: oil, platinum, gold, diamonds, gas, etc.

Berlin partitioning of Africa

1950–1970: Nationalism in Africa – African countries were set to become independent, yet they did not control their economies or the world order of finance monopoly capitalism. That system was designed to export capital to African nations to compound interest. Banks became section chumps to suck out wealth and perpetuate the dependency of states and individuals.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank imposed austerity programmes that transferred business from states to privatisation through so-called Structural Adjustment Programmes. Workers are subjected to taxation and stressful advertisements that make choices for them, while governments are coerced into prostituting states for Foreign Direct Investment without considering actual local direct investments, including making foreign-investor-friendly laws.

From 1975 to 2026: Neoliberal Capitalism has succeeded in its aim to redistribute wealth from:

1. Wages to profits
   1. Labour to capital
   1. Poor to rich

No single African has redistributed in the opposite way. Real increases in wages in real terms have declined. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting miserably poorer. The Gini coefficient distribution of wealth is becoming obscured.

As Basotho, we need as a nation to have a Plan B after the expiry of AGOA, which employed around 55,000 workers, predominantly young women (80–95 percent) who face a triple barrier to oppression: race, gender, and sex. With AGOA’s future uncertain, these women are particularly vulnerable.

Trade Union and Employers’ Organisations

What are trade unions and employers’ organisations?

They are legal entities registered under the Labour Act No. 3 of 2024. Their role is to act as watchdogs for the Ministry of Labour, which is the custodian of labour law. These entities are governed by the Registrar of Trade Unions, Employers’ Organisations, and Collective Bargaining Councils.

Both entities are supposed to work hand-in-glove with the Department of Labour in alerting and protecting workers’/employees’ rights and interests within the world of work. The hierarchy of labour laws is as follows: ILO Conventions and Recommendations, African Union Charter, Constitution of Lesotho, collective bargaining agreements, Labour Act 2024, and contracts of employment.

Unfortunately, the two entities are perceived as leading their respective constituencies instead of receiving their mandates according to their own constitutions. At times, they seem to sell rights and interests to the highest bidder for personal benefit. In other words, there is a “race to the bottom” when it comes to wages.

The Ministry of Labour should spearhead the government of Lesotho, trade unions, employers’ organisations, academics, legal entities, non-governmental organisations, the ILO, the AU, and the Basotho population at large. All have the responsibility to direct the labour movement to observe its mandate and responsibilities.

A series of job summits could be held on three regional bases, with the apex summit held at the national level. One of the tasks would be to produce a proposal for national job creation.

The Mandate of the National Job Creation of Lesotho is to establish the country’s needs in terms of jobs in the interim and in the future. For example:

• Ministry of Labour should provide statistical needs for labour inspectors, legal officers, mediation personnel, DDPR personnel, Labour Court, and Labour Appeal Court.
• Ministry of Health should provide statistics on the need for professional doctors and various fields, including psychiatrists for psychosocial issues (as Lesotho has high substance abuse and mental health problems), as well as nursing.
• Ministry of Agriculture should provide the need for professions in farming, fisheries, dairy products, goats, sheep, cattle, horses, poultry, piggery, cash crops, and orchards.
• Ministry of Natural Resources should provide professionals for wind electricity, solar electricity, electrical engineering, mining engineering, surveying, geology, research, and adding value to minerals.
• Ministry of Education should provide the country’s needs for professionals in mechanical engineering, civil engineering, water engineering, carpentry and fitting, teaching, and aviation.
• Ministry of Public Works & Transport should provide the country’s needs for professional public transport controls, road construction, urban planning, and coordination of electricity, water, and media networks.
• Ministry of Trade should have cooperatives for savings and credit taught at higher learning institutions under the faculty of economics, as well as inspectors of trade laws to check implementation.
• Ministry of Tourism should provide the country’s needs for professionals to inspect, evaluate, and promote through marketing.
• Other ministries should follow suit.

The government of Lesotho should be given a mandate to sponsor the earmarked specific professions identified by the National Job Summit for higher learning as a Lesotho Vision for 5 years up to 2050.

The rationale behind the Job Summit is for the country to move forward.

KHOTSO, PULA, NALA

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