Enjoy the fruits of your labour this weekend

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2016 (3343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the midst of this last long weekend of the summer, I hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labour over the past year.

While Monday is the day in Canada and the United States designated to celebrate workers of all kinds, it is a holiday that sprung up from some of the specific achievements of the Labour Movement.

Every year, on the first weekend of September, those working in unions may look back with pride at bargaining sessions that brought in protection and benefits for workers — many of which were eventually codified into provincial or federal laws.

According to Wikipedia, Canada’s celebrations started as far back as the 1880s, coming some years after a raucous series of protests in 1872 in support of Toronto’s Typographical Union strike of that year. It would lead to a fulfilled promise by then Canadian prime minister, John A. Macdonald, to repeal existing repressive anti-union laws, which was followed by successful negotiations unions to have a maximum 54-hour work week.

Most people today, however, just enjoy the opportunity to revel in the last few days of longer sunshine and relatively warm evenings, which will gradually get colder and colder as we move deeper into the month. People celebrate the weekend in a variety of ways, but across most of the nation where there is an interest in CFL football, the Labour Day Classic has become very popular with games this weekend between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and our Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos and the Toronto Argonauts versus the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

Labour Day is a holiday celebrated in many parts of the world, but not necessarily around this particular weekend, or in the same manner.

From a labour standpoint, many countries associate the achievements gained by unions on International Worker’s Day, which takes place May 1. Most of the countries of the European Union celebrate Labour Day, May 1.

Like Canada, many of the countries have created flexible holidays near that date, while many have made it a statutory holiday as well.

Many of the countries whose dates do not occur around May 1, have nevertheless chosen dates that have a significant relationship to worker achievements, or in some instances lack of basic worker rights and protections which have led to disasters.

After the devastating labour riots which took place in Trinidad and Tobago in June of 1937, the 19th of that month is commemorated in the memory of those days.

A justifiable request, which has not yet been granted by the Bangladesh government, comes from the Sramic Sanghate garment workers organization, in memory of those who perished when the Rana Plaza building collapsed in 2013, leaving more than 1,100 dead and 2500 injured, many of them seriously.

Jamaica celebrates its Labour Day in May to commemorate the rebellion that would lead to the country’s independence from Great Britain.

Labour Day in the Bahamas is celebrated on the first Friday of June, and is a major event day with parades, fireworks and speeches from politicians of all stripes.

While it was called International Worker’s Day, prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain, Russia would use May Day as an opportunity to parade its weapons of war. Real and persuaded supporters would gather in Red Square to hear communist leaders spout off about the greatness of the USSR. After the fall of communism, it would often become a day of student protest and unrest. In 1992 the name was officially changed to The Day of Spring and Labour. It is still a major holiday without the bravado of the previous era. During the Soviet era there were few news outlets that did not grant significant coverage to the lavish demonstrations of potential power of the Russian Bear.

It is noteworthy the concept of spring has been integrated in the new celebration. In the past, the association with spring is a more accurate descriptor for the traditional celebrations of that day from centuries past.

While labour may deserve all the credit for most of the world’s celebrations today, May Day as it was known then, goes back multi-centuries. According to legends, in pagan times May Day was about celebrating rebirth from both a seasonal and real sense. People would dance around the symbolic phallic associated May Pole, traditionally a celebration more aligned with fertility. It was part of the pagan prayer for large and healthy families. Competitions centred on climbing the May Pole, which would supposedly prove who was manliest amongst them, garnering honour and appreciation from the crowds gathered to watch.

At the same time, it has also been associated with the rebirth of nature after winter. The exchange of flowers then, and now, express sentiments of love and caring.

These kinds of spring rituals have been a part of the changing seasons and continue today, not always related to the way we have defined Labour Day today, but still an important addendum to those who celebrate it May 1.

For us, however, this is the weekend to enjoy ourselves before schools open again and Manitobans go back to work in earnest. Regardless of how you chose to celebrate the day and this weekend, I hope you are able to capture the spirit of the achievements made by labour in a positive and appreciative manner.

Read Ron’s blog at www.thattravelguy.ca. Listen to Ron’s latest podcast every Tues. at 7:30 a.m. via his website or on demand on iTunes.

pradinukr@shaw.ca