This issue is being brought out on May Day 2025. A day when the working class of this country and the world commemorates the historic struggle for an 8-hour working day. It is one thing to commemorate the Day, it is quite another to achieve the 8 hr day. In fact let alone 8 hours, most of our workers are on a contract basis and even worse many are line labours working on a daily basis.
To recapitulate: The International Workers Congress held in Paris in 1889 established the Second International for labour, socialist, and Marxist parties. It adopted a resolution for a “great international demonstration” in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day. The date was chosen by the American Federation of Labor to commemorate a general strike in the United States, which had begun on 1 May 1886 and culminated in the Haymarket affair on 4 May. The Haymarket Affair in Chicago in 1886 became a pivotal event in labour history.
On 1 May 1890, demonstrations took place in the United States and most countries in Europe. Demonstrations were also held in Chile and Peru.
Labour Day commemorates the historic struggles and achievements of the labour movement, particularly the fight for an eight-hour workday. The International Socialist Congress, Amsterdam 1904 called on “all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.”
I am not sure what significance it carries in India when the bulk of our labour force is unorganised and paid pathetic wages and 10-12 hours a day of work; with conditions getting worse by the day. Roughly 625 million Indians, or six in ten working-age people, are in the labour force, while nearly 400 million working age Indians are out of the labour force. India’s labour force participation rate – the share of the population that is in the labour force – is lower than that of South Asian peers such as Bangladesh, and other comparable middle-income countries. While the female labour force participation rates are lower than those of males in many parts of the world, this gap is particularly sharp in India. There are a little more than 200 million women in India’s labour force, compared to more than 400 million men. India’s women participation is one of the lowest in the world, confined to household chores. Many are kept in Burkha and Ghungat – particularly in the north India.
Mere commemoration of the day is meaningless unless a concerted effort is put in to get the labour participation on an organised footing Contracting and sub-contracting and even worse the line system of taking workers on a daily basis and extensive household labour is the order of the day. All this must stop and all labour must be put on a permanent footing and in an organised set-up.
Meanwhile in this issue we present various articles on the international situation, including Turkey, the US-China growing contention, and articles in local language on issues that have risen nationally.
Editor’s Note Delimitation is now a powerful weapon in the hands of BJP ruled central government to retain its power in next term too. BJP’a all crooked communal strategies in the general elections failed in all 5 Southern states. So… Rajan Kurai Krishnan Periyar E.V.Ramasamy had a nuanced concept of the self. He did not accept any metaphysical foundation of the self, nor believed in any pre-given teleology of human progress rooted in the self. He only argued for the… Amjot Ask The 19th EUTCC (European Union Turkey Civic Commission) Conference ended demanding relevant institutions to play their role in resolving the conflict by securing the release of Abdullah Öcalan, recognizing Northern and Eastern Syria, and removing the PKK from… Vanaja Che [Summary in English Love our country Leave patriotism ‘To abolish war it is necessary to abolish patriotism, and to abolish patriotism it is necessary first to understand that it is an evil” said Leo Tolstoy. We now… By Peter M Johansen. Translated by Johan Petter Andresen. During the election campaign, Donald Trump claimed that he could stop the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, and that was before he took office as president on January 20 2025…. Arnljot Ask This winter we have seen important steps forward in the struggle led by PKK to solve the so called “Kurdish issue” in Turkey; how to give the Kurds democratic, social, cultural and national rights in the society. Also… Kobad Ghandy In the 34th annual Forbes list of the world’s billionaires, [2023] the list included 2,095 billionaires with a total net wealth of $8 trillion – over twice the size of India’s GDP. And this continues to rise no matter what the crises. The…
Delimitation is a huge betrayal for South India
Periyar: Concept of Self-Respect as the Bedrock of Equality
19th EUTCC Conference ends demanding the release of Abdullah Öcalan
ON Pahelgaon ATTACK
Trump goes solo in Ukraine Disconnecting Ukraine from Europe
PKKs struggle for Democracy and Freedom in Kurdistan
International Situation & Growing Contention
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