As the Industrial Revolution took hold of the nation, the average American in the late 1800s worked 12-hour days, seven days a week in order to make a basic living. Children were also working, as they provided cheap labor to employers and laws against child labor were not strongly enforced.
With the long hours and terrible working conditions, American unions became more prominent and voiced their demands for a better way of life. On Tuesday September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers marched from city hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first-ever Labor Day parade. Participants took an upaid day-off to honor the workers of America, as well as vocalize issues they had with employers. As years passed, more states began to hold these parades, but Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later.
On May 11, 1894, workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago struck to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. They sought support from their union led by Eugene V. Debs and on June 26 the American Railroad Union called a boycott of all Pullman railway cars. Within days, 50,000 rail workers complied and railroad traffic out of Chicago came to a halt. On July 4, President Grover Cleveland dispatched troops to Chicago. Much rioting and bloodshed ensued, but the government's actions broke the strike and the boycott soon collapsed. Debs and three other union officials were jailed for disobeying the injunction. The strike brought worker's rights to the public eye and Congress declared, in 1894, that the first Monday in September would be the holiday for workers, known as Labor Day.
The founder of Labor Day remains unclear, but some credit either Peter McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, or Matthew Maguire, a secretary of the Central Labor Union, for proposing the holiday.
Although Labor Day is meant as a celebration of the labor movement and its achievements, it has come to be celebrated as the last, long summer weekend before Autumn.
" INT'L LABOUR DAY: Malaysian Workers to March Against Privatisation "
By Anil Netto
PENANG, Malaysia, Apr 29 (IPS) - Malaysia's workers will mark International Labour Day on May 1 with a strong protest against globalisation, which they feel is gradually eroding away their rights and making poor Malaysians poorer.
Some 5,000 thousand trade union members are expected to gather on Saturday night at Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) to usher in Labour Day in one of the biggest workers' gatherings in recent times. They are expected to be joined by up to 3,000 political and grassroots activists as well as workers from marginalised sectors from across the country.
This year's theme is 'Globalisation erodes workers' rights'. And uppermost on the minds of workers will be their concern over the privatisation of water and healthcare services in the country.
The Malaysian Trades Union Congress, the main organisers of the gathering, is heading into unknown territory under the leadership of committed trade unionists who swept aside the national labour centre's previous leadership, which was widely seen as politically compromised.
For newly elected MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, workers have reason to be worried about globalisation. ''We are concerned about privatisation, the right (which has been taken away) of civil servants to engage in collective bargaining, lack of security of tenure, (the struggle for) a minimum wage, and the occupational safety and health of workers,'' he told IPS.
Rani Rasiah, one of the coordinators of the Oppressed Peoples Network (JERIT), agrees that these issues are of major concerns to workers now. JERIT brings together five different coalitions of groups working among urban pioneers, plantation workers, factory workers, farmers and students.
''This year it's very stark,'' she said. ''We are feeling the effects of globalisation even more than we did last year.'' But she said the government was being shrewd. ''They are giving it to us in little doses.''
She said its actions were not much different from those of governments in Europe, where workers' rights and security of tenure are gradually being eroded. Apart from the issues Syed Shahir mentioned, she spoke of local workers being forced to face competition from migrant workers as well as worries about multinational companies relocating to other countries in search of cheaper labour.
But it is the privatisation of essential services like water and healthcare that is dominating concern in this year's gathering. ''It's a good thing that the MTUC is taking an interest in this issue (of privatisation).''
The MTUC has joined the newly set up Coalition Against Water Privatisation, which is opposing the privatisation of water supply management in the country amidst fears that it will lead to higher tariffs and burden the poor.
Parliament passed the Constitution Amendment Bill in January transferring supply and management of water away from respective states to the federal level to pave the way for water privatisation. Two more bills - The Water Industry Bill and a bill to establish a regulatory National Water Services Commission - are expected to be passed soon. The government, meanwhile, is bypassing the need to set up a Parliamentary Select Committee to solicit views from the public and civil society groups.
The Coalition Against Water Privatisation, comprising 26 civil society groups, has been trying to raise awareness among workers and the public about the perils of privatisation.
''The privatisation of water resources is taking place at a time when the cost of other essential services such as healthcare, infant food, rental, food, petrol, transport and education is escalating,'' said Charles Santiago, the coordinator of the coalition, in a recent commentary. These rising costs are marginalizing the poor and low-income workers and increasing hardship to vulnerable groups, he added.
Other activists are campaigning against the privatisation of healthcare. Key services in state-run general hospitals such as maintenance, catering, procurement and supply of medicines have already been privatised. The result: expenditure on these services has soared.
To cope with rising costs, the government has just announced the setting up of the National Health Financing Scheme from next year. Under this scheme, Malaysians would have to make regular contributions for healthcare. This is in contrast to the situation now, whereby Malaysians have access to medical treatment at nominal costs from government hospitals and more expensive treatment at private hospitals.
''I think it is bad news,'' said Jeyakumar Devaraj, a respiratory physician-turned-activist who is on the steering committee of the Coalition Against Healthcare Privatisation. ''Overall, there is a tendency to shift the financial burden to the workers.''
He said this was done either by shifting the tax burden or by making them pay for services once provided by the state.
Devaraj mentioned the proposed Goods and Services Tax, a tax on consumer spending, as an example of the shifting of the burden of taxes to workers even as corporation taxes are kept low.
''What's more, they bring in migrant workers and allow contract workers to keep wages at low levels,'' he complained. ''All this puts economic pressure on the workers.''
Although a National Healthcare Financing Scheme would theoretically provide additional funds for general hospitals and allow cross-subsidies for the poor, Devaraj is worried.
He questioned the occasion the Health Ministry chose to announce the national scheme: at the launching of two private medical insurance schemes by a major insurance firm in Kuala Lumpur. ''The Health Minister should have told the firm to hold on, as the new national healthcare financing scheme was coming into force.''
''It's not a question of the idea (of a national healthcare scheme). Rather it has to be administered by a government that has the interests of the poor and workers at heart,'' he told IPS. ''Right now, I don't see any commitment towards improving healthcare services for the poor. In fact, the whole system of setting up a parallel private hospitals sector has bled the public (general hospitals) sector dry.''
MTUC's Syed Shahir is clearly concerned. ''We are taking the issue of privatisation seriously,'' he said, ''and we will go down to the grassroots to take serious initiatives to create awareness among workers.'' (END/2005)
" A call for workers to resist the might of capital "
By Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud (taken from Aliran)
Labour Day, or May Day as some may call it, renews the commitment of the working class to stand in solidarity against the exploitative nature of capitalism. Whilst in Malaysia we have seen the reduction of sweat-shops, exploitation has taken on a different and more sophisticated form.
As we celebrate Labour Day this year, it is imperative for us to reflect upon the challenges which we, the working class, are faced with.
Globalization, taken advantage of by the proponents of an uncaring form of capitalism, has been used as a tool to internationalize the exploitation of workers. Governments are increasingly playing a secondary role to Trans-National Corporations (TNCs). The objectives of TNCs are one and the same, which is to maximize profits. They have no qualms about doing it at the expense of the masses, and Governments are succumbing to the strength of the TNC dollar.
Call for workers to unite internationally
The divide between the haves and the have-nots has increased since the advent of globalization. There are many more people in the world who are being pushed to the fringes of poverty, all in the name of lowering costs to maximize profits.
Investors are portrayed as sacred cows, with the masses warned not to incur their wrath. Demands for wage increases, the legitimate and inalienable right of all workers, are being touted as ‘wrong’. Management would rather that Unions make their appeals with a whisper and allow discretion or charity to be exercised by those who own the means of production.
The position of the working class in our modern society has been cheapened to such an extent that Management can come up with various ingenious schemes to take the initiative away from organized labour.
Dilemma for labour
The protection accorded to workers in this country is being diminished, all in the name of giving greater leeway to capital to exercise its every whim and fancy freely.
The main areas which need to be given attention to are :
a. Recognition of unions
Recognition of unions is the pulse of trade unionism. Unfortunately, the Government bureaucracy is used as an excuse to delay claims for recognition by Unions to represent workers in Companies. It is not uncommon for such claims to be lying idle on the desks of Human Resources Ministry officials for years. I would venture to say that if no pressure is applied, the claims would not be processed.
The process for determining whether the Unions have a majority to represent workers in a Company, as prescribed by the law, leaves much to be desired. Very little protection, if any, is given to the more active members who are victimised under various guises by their Companies. The MTUC is calling for a more transparent and speedier system to deal with claims for recognitions by Unions.
b. Minimum wage
The absence of a minimum wage in this country speaks volumes for the status of the common worker in society. When less progressive nations such as Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam and even a supposedly low labour-cost haven like China have in place a minimum wage mechanism, there is no good reason why Malaysia cannot have one. A minimum wage, which is revised periodically, would ensure that no citizen would have to work at a wage level that does not allow him to take care of his and his family’s basic needs. It certainly cannot be too much to ask for. It is meaningless to have mega-projects, which often turn out to be white elephants when our social institutions cannot guarantee a decent living wage.
c. Lack of consultation
Workers in this country are in the majority. Yet, it would seem that decision-making powers are vested in the hands of a very few. This has given rise to an elitist form of governance, which is not in the interest of the general public. Workers’ representatives should be consulted on all issues affecting them, be it the issue of foreign labour, amendments to legislation affecting the workers and the like. Any decision made after consultation and deliberation would be democratic and palatable to the public at large.
There are many other matters to raise but it would suffice for me to raise these immediate and urgent issues on the occasion of this year’s May Day.
Call for solidarity
The need for workers’ solidarity is of paramount importance today as it was when our brothers and sisters from the trade union movements of bygone generations who fought for an 8-hour work day, a weekly rest day, healthy working conditions, etc. which we enjoy today.
We are today faced with the scourge of globalization, which depresses the wages of workers internationally. Outsourcing of work is one of the schemes resorted to in order to lower wages and maximise profit by shifting jobs to lower labour-cost countries. The shifts of this nature will continue to take place. If China is the place to be now to enjoy this benefit, we can be rest assured that there will be a similar shift away from China in time to come; when the cost of labour rises there. The bottom of the barrel is unknown. In the meantime, families struggle to make ends meet while their quality of life is being compromised by an uncaring and unfeeling capitalism.
We should all now redouble our efforts and resolve to increase the membership of Unions in order to strengthen the labour movement so that it can accord workers greater protection. An increase in numerical strength will allow for greater voice and better resistance to stand up against the might of capital and regain our rights.
Syed Shahir, the president of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, delivered this message at the MTUC-organised Labour Day gathering held at Dataran Merdeka. Some 6,000 people including union members, marginalised communities and activists from Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (JERIT) joined in the celebration.
Merekah Fajar Sdn. Bhd. pays a "Tribute" to each and everyone especially those workers working in our local automotive industry. Keep up the good work, guys.
It's YOUR DAY, fellas! You should be standing tall because without your contributions to our economy, we won't be where we are today.
Today, Malaysia is slowly but surely heading towards industrialisation and globalisation, and you guys are in the forefront of it all!
Syabas, Pekerja-pekerja Malaysia! Kejayaan sekarang ini adalah kejayaan kamu semua.
Comment: Stephen Dass
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